The world of celebrity real estate seems to mirror the ups and downs of the financial crisis, and these are a few headlines that demonstrate that.

Lauren Conrad leases her Hollywood Hills home out

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An interesting phenomenon seen over the last few years of the real estat eboom is the amount of celebrities who turned property developer. Presumably drawn by the lure of more easy money, as none of them have any particular experience or skills in this area (other than deep pockets). Leonardo di Caprio, John Leslie and Paris Hilton come to mind. The sensible among them merely lend their name to a project for a fee, but some actually put up the cash.

More on Magic Johnson’s Luxury condo developer files for bankrupcy

Some time ago we reported on Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch saga. Will it be sold, will some one buy it and give it back, will it be torn down? Who knows. But if you are interested, the contents of the house are going to be auctioned off in April at the Beverly Hilton.

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Carla Bruni, France’s first lady has just sold the family castle in Turino, Italy to an un-named Saudi prince. The middle eastern oil producers do seem intent on buying up not only the world’s banks, but the world’s finest real estate. After months of negotiation, the final sale price was E9 million ($11.5 million). The castle was jointly owned by three Bruni-Tedeschi women – Carla, Marisa and Valeria and the gossip is that the proceeds are to be split equally between the three ladies.

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It appears that the credit crunch is taking a toll on up-market restaurants in the UK – the leases to two eateries belonging to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay appeared  for sale last week – only to vanish almost immediately.

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Santa Clause – The latest Victim in the Madoff Ponzi Fraud

The list of victims in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme gets longer by the day. Santa Claus has come forward and admitted he was wiped out by the duplicitous Madoff. In an exclusive interview, Santa said, “It’s all gone. Every last penny. I can’t believe I trusted that horrible little man; he is getting coal for sure this year.”

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