Pop star Britney Spears put house on open market after failing to find private buyer

The house price crisis in the US is even affecting top celebrities these days with Britney Spears becoming the latest well known person to have problems selling a luxury house.

The 26-year-old pop star has been trying to find a private buyer for her $7.9 million estate in a luxury gated Beverly Hills community in Los Angeles since June.

Now the lack of response has forced her to list her property for sale publicly. Once reason given for the lack of interest is the fact that paparazzi photographers and helicopters regularly surround the house in an attempt to get the latest photographs of the disaster struck singer.

The Mediterranean style mansion, which she bought in December 2007 for about $7 million if for sale through Sotheby's International Realty and offered partially furnished and decorated. It has six bedrooms, and six-and-a-half bathrooms, as well as a library, bar, media room and maid's quarters. The master bedroom has a fireplace and a loggia.

A second-floor balcony overlooks an open living room and kitchen with an adjacent screening room. There are also a pool and hot tub in the backyard.

Property owners adjacent to the property are hoping the luxury house will sell quickly. Some have publicly complained that the constant presence of the media and police has made their lives difficult and also affected the price of their own properties.

Neighbor Ed McMahon has publicly said that living next door to Spears has made it difficult to sell his house. He claimed he did not get a single offer in two years although he has now sold, albeit for more than $3 million less than its original asking price.

Spears has been said to be shopping for a new property in Malibu-adjacent Calabasas, an upper-class resort in the San Fernando Valley that's full of gated communities and young families.

Because of various recent problems Spears has to seek the approval of a court commissioner for the sale. In a citation she said she wanted to move to somewhere with a 'lower density, more quiet and less trafficked neighborhood, that is also more accessible to parks and recreation areas' for her children, three year old Sean and two year old Jayden.