Although the property market had fallen, the price tag was still enormous.

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Stephen Baker, an analyst at research firm NPD, said Google is "certainly out in front of a number of trends that will be impacting the market, " but the Chromebook Pixel's price tag was "a big jump" from the earlier generation of Chromebooks and the Chrome operating system doesn't appear ready to compete head-on with Apple laptops or those powered by Windows 8.

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With the iPhone 5 price tag putting it out of reach of most market expectations, the fight might be left to Windows Phone.

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At the high-performance end of the market, Ferrari's F-150 Enzo-replacement, with a price tag well in excess of a million euros, will be challenged by McLaren's P1, which was first seen as a concept in Paris last September.

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Adding to the price tag is a steady decline in the number of domestic workers in the market.

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