BRITNEY SPEARS - SPEARS LOSES $1 MILLION AS APARTMENT VALUE PLUMMETS

Pop superstar BRITNEY SPEARS is smarting after the value of her New York apartment plummeted by more than $1 million (GBP556,000) in just three months.

The TOXIC singer's luxury penthouse abode was first put on the market at $6 million (GBP3.35 million), but is now being offered for $4.95 million (GBP2.75 million), according to New York Magazine.

Spears has owned the three-bedroom apartment for several years, but first decided to put it on the market when she became pregnant and opted to move to the US west coast with husband KEVIN FEDERLINE.

The 24-year-old recently changed real estate brokers in an effort to get things moving and her new broker, ADAM MODLIN of the Modlin Group, has advised her to drop the price steeply to a "bargain" $4.95 million.

It's the second time in recent years Spears has suffered a property flop in Manhattan - in 2002, she was forced to close her restaurant venture, Nyla, due to flagging interest from New York diners, leaving behind an estimated $400,000 (GBP222,500) in unpaid bills.