Today's Observer introduces the concept of celebrity flippers — the process by which brokers, developers, agents, and celebrities conspire to buy into new housing for a special price and then sell the apartment ASAP for quick cash-out. Famous neighbors, of course, add to the property value of all the other units, and everyone goes home happy. (Except whoever has to live next to Courtney Love. They go home really sad.)

"What does Madonna living next-door do to the property value? It could add 30 percent," claims former Douglas Elliman pres Paul Purcell.

The one exception so far: the Meier Perry Street towers — which also get trashed in this June's Vanity Fair — are suffering from a celeb-exodus. "Perry Street," says Donald Trump, "has been a disaster."
Glitzerati Pump Apartment Costs, Fleeing, Flipping [NYO]

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