Damac Properties, one the Middle East's largest luxury real estate developers, recently announced that every customer will receive a new car on select luxury property units sold during the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). Customers buying a Damac Properties penthouse during DSF will be given a Lamborghini Aventador roadster with their purchase. Buyers in other select Damac Properties units will receive either a BMW or a Mini Cooper, depending on the size of the unit. "Damac Properties' DSF promotion is always highly anticipated and we see some of the best results of the year during this time," Niall McLoughlin, senior vice-president, Damac Properties said. In 2013, penthouse buyers were offered a 2014 Audi R8, buyers of three-bed units will be given an Audi A8, two bedrooms were given an Audi A6 and one bed got an Audi A4. During the economic crisis Dubai housing prices fall by 50 percent, but now the market recovers quickly. In 2013 house prices in Dubai increased by 20-30 percent. The growth mainly is due to the foreign buyers' activity.

Plans for a very luxurious yacht named "The Streets of Monaco" by UK-based ship designers at Yacht Island Design have been revived, promising to create a floating replica of the actual location. The ambitious project is estimated to cost a whopping US$ 402 million and will mimic important landmarks of the city-state, such as the Prince's Palace, Port Hercule, Hotel de Paris, Loews Hotel and the famous La Rascasse. It will also have a go kart replica of the actual legendary Formula 1 circuit, along with a helipad, jacuzzis, jet skis, a mini submarine and swimming pools. "The Streets of Monaco" super yacht will be 155 meters long and will be able to accommodate 16 guests and 70 members of the crew which will all be travelling at a top speed of 15 knots. Plans for the yacht were originally disclosed in January 2011 but so far developers weren't able to find potential clients willing to pay the exorbitant price tag. Rob McPherson, one of the project's founders, told Daily Mail they are "looking for clients either private or commercial with the vision to realize this new and interesting design direction." He also said a lot of people have expressed their desire to take a cruise with the yacht and they also received "a number of enquiries for potential commercial applications."

A sprawling mansion regarded as one of London's finest homes has been put up for sale for a US$ 82 million - 300 times the average UK selling price. The eight-bedroom mansion - which features a steam room, gym and palatial swimming pool room - was built in 1896 for the MP Russell Rea, a Victorian shipping magnate from Liverpool. The home, in Hampstead, London, was made using terracotta detailing but has been comprehensively refurbished by craftsmen and fitted with every modern convenience, including a luxurious cinema room, with sofa bed style seating. The result is an eight-bedroom home with seven bathrooms, a staggering vaulted reception room, four further living rooms and a galleried hallway. The four-storey home, on Lyndhurst Road in Hampstead, London, also has large garden, outdoor swimming pool and separate staff flat. It has been put on the market with Beauchamp Estates for US$ 82 million - one of the highest asking prices for a home in the UK. At this price, the owner would have to pay seven per cent in stamp duty - meaning US$ 5.6 million would be going to the exchequer. Gary Hersham, managing director of Beauchamp Estates, said: 'The house is one of London's finest private homes, offering period features, great entertaining space and a most luxurious indoor pool.' The home is in the 'super prime' market and is twice the price of the average super prime home sold in the UK this year. It is 300 times the average UK selling price of US$ 270 thousand and 196 times the average value of a home (US$ 410 thousand) on the British isle. And the price-tag is only the beginning with running costs on a home like this thought to be around a quarter-of-a-million pounds a year. On average, homeowners in these sorts of properties pay US$ 3510 on council tax, US$ 33 thousand on utility bills, US$ 82 thousand on security, US$ 33 thousand on cleaning, US$ 49 thousand on a housekeeper, US$ 110 thousand on insurance and US$ 9830 on a gardener. Currently the most expensive mansion for sale in London is the mansion on Carlton House terrace for US$ 388 million. The second is the mansion of Saudi Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd in Kensington for US$ 164 million, and on the third place is the mansion Heath Hall in Hampstead for US$ 106 million.

A plan to create a giant casino complex - called Eurovegas - near Madrid has collapsed after disagreements between the developer and Spanish authorities. US casino operator Las Vegas Sands has pulled out of the US$ 30 billion project which included six casinos, 12 hotels and many shops. On July 25, 2013 the corporation officially registered plans to build a sprawling resort known as "Eurovegas" outside the Spanish capital Madrid, but now it was cancelled. Directly and indirectly the project was supposed to create up to 250,000 posts. That was an important selling point in Spain where the jobless rate currently stands at 27%. However Spanish authorities would not agree to several demands from the US Company. Las Vegas Sands wanted the government to insure it against future changes in policy which could damage the resort's profitability, as well as a lower tax on gambling. There was also a disagreement over smoking at the resort, with Las Vegas Sands asking for the resort to be exempted from Spanish rules on smoking. At a news conference after the government's weekly cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said: "New conditions were put forward concerning taxes and legal protection ... which could not be taken on board by the administrations involved," "The government needs to preserve the general interests of all Spaniards," she said. In a statement, Las Vegas Sands chief executive Sheldon Adelson said: "While the government and many others have worked diligently on this effort, we do not see a path in which the criteria needed to move forward with this large-scale development can be reached. "Developing integrated resorts in Europe has been a vision of mine for years, but there is a time and place for everything and right now our focus is on encouraging Asian countries, like Japan and Korea, to dramatically enhance their tourism offering through the development of integrated resorts there." Madrid was selected as the location for the resort after a long battle with Barcelona, which also coveted the investment. The casino complex has been opposed by several groups, including the Roman Catholic Church, which argued the development would encourage prostitution and crime.

The Dancing House, designed by Croatian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunic and American Frank Gehry, one of the most original and highly acclaimed post-communist buildings in Prague, has been sold for US$ 18 million. Its new owner is the Prague Real Estate Administration company of businessman Vaclav Skala. Some ten investors, mostly from the Czech Republic, were interested in this iconic building. The Dancing House, dubbed also Ginger and Fred (after the famous dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers) as it is shaped like a dancing couple, was completed on the embankment in the city center in 1996. It was awarded the Design of the year 1996 prize of the American Time magazine. The previous owner was the CBRE Global Investors Company, which acquired the building in 2011 after taking over the European and Asian assets of the ING Real Estate Investment Management firm. The modern house was built on an empty plot after a block of flats that was damaged by the U.S bombing of Prague at the end of World War II. The interiors of the offices in the nine-stores Dancing House were partially designed by Czech architect Eva Jiricna, living in Britain. Each floor is different thanks to the irregular shape of the building. The Dancing House offers 2965 square meters of offices on six floors, a restaurant (679 square meters) on the top floor and a conference center (400 square meters) on the ground floor and in the basement.