BUY A HOUSE + GET A FREE CAR.. ????

On the 11th of JULY 2012, this news headline appeared repeated across various sites:

House prices go higher still in Belgium 

included in the content was this about prices in Brussels:
Brussels recorded the biggest increase, 7.9% with the average house now going for 422,248 euros. [...] and in Brussels an increase of 9.2% (average price of a flat: 224,912 euros).

The same week, I saw this very unusual advert (visible from metro station Ossegem)  

"Un Appartement trois chambres acheté + une voiture offerte"

This reminded me of the many anecdotes relating the obvious signs which were missed by unfortunate buyers/investors in property just before the housing crash in various countries..
 

A similar story was just published on CNN about the Spanish housing market 'desperation'. 

Spain: iPad with your mortgage? - CNN.com 

 ....Some realtors have started setting up housing fairs in the parking lots of shopping centers, in the hope shoppers might be drawn in. One fair in Madrid was offering a free car with home purchases, just one of many incentives to boost Spain's housing market.