After media mogul Oprah Winfrey paid an astonishing $52 million in 2001 for an estate that caught her eye, the affluent enclave of Montecito in Santa Barbara County, 90 miles north of Los Angeles, continued to experience skyrocketing home values. Some real estate experts suggest that Oprah's Georgian-style residence, on about 45 acres, might have been a good buy at that sum. The property was appraised in 2008 for $85 million, reflecting an average 18% increase in that neighborhood's home values since 2000, but may have taken a dip with the recent housing market slide. (In 2008, the average ...
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