The apartment fix is toxic for Britney Spears
Britney Spears has sold her luxurious home in Calabasas, California, for $10.1 million just eight months after buying it. It shows that the 41-year-old singer, once dubbed the “Princess of Pop,” is not immune to the housing market correction and suffered a $1.7 million loss on the sale, according to Variety’s real estate news outlet . dirt. She could well quote one of her big hits: “You’re toxic, I’m slipping under.” But a closer look at this transaction reveals a lot about luxury real estate prices in Southern California and across the country.
Spears bought her former home for $11.8 million last summer after marrying her coach Sam Asghari and almost a year after her more than 10-year conservatorship ended, meaning it was one of the first major purchases which they could dispense with court oversight. At the time of Spears’ initial purchase of the home, a source said People that it was important to Spears to have a “home that picked her up without having to ask for permission”.
Located in the Estate at the Oaks, the seven-bedroom mansion is set over four acres, with a guest house, cascading pool and movie theater. Spears reportedly sold the home over privacy concerns Elle decor. But she still lives large in her nearby Thousand Oaks mansion, which she purchased in 2015 from a landmark listing.
Nevertheless, the economic environment is just right for buyers or sellers of luxury real estate. The housing market is self-correcting after mortgage rates spiked in 2022 after house prices skyrocketed during the pandemic housing boom, and it’s been particularly tough in western markets, which are seeing a near double-digit decline in house prices. Not to mention, the luxury segment is also correcting as fewer buyers choose to spend big — and Spears’ former home falls into both camps.
Luxury home sales fell 38.1% year over year in the three months ended Nov. 30 last year, according to Redfin. That’s the biggest drop since at least 2012, that’s how far Redfin’s records go. Coastal markets, primarily in California, led the decline. Los Angeles posted a 51.4% drop over the same period, while the San Jose, Riverside, and Anaheim markets all saw falls of more than 55%.
Seasonally adjusted (see chart below), home values in the Los Angeles area are down 3.4% from their peak in 2022, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. Without seasonal adjustment, home values in the Los Angeles area are down 8.2%. (Nationally, US home prices are down 2.7% from their 2022 peak).
The Calabasas home was listed by Bryce Pennel, director of luxury real estate at Compass, who did not immediately respond Assets Request for comments. The buyer acc Dirt, is Ezekiel Tyson Jr., a Dallas-based attorney and seasoned real estate investor.
Pennel told Fox News that the primary goal is to sell the home as quickly and painlessly as possible, since neighborhood homes typically stay on the market for over a year and go through a price drop before finally being sold.
“I found a buyer in less than seven days and negotiated an unconditional cash offer that closed in three business days,” Pennel told Fox. “It was discussed and mutually agreed that we would rather take the slam dunk than sell even lower in a year’s time after months of accrued storage costs and expenses.”
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