When it comes to real estate, celebrities flock together — and they will pay top dollar to do so. Take Malibu Colony in California. Tucked behind guarded gates, the beachfront community was constructed in the 1920s and quickly became a favorite vacation hub of Hollywood’s elite. Nearly a century later, the list of residents of the enclave, comprised of postage stamp-sized lots packed with large houses, still reads like a red carpet event, with celebs like Tom Hanks and Jason Statham shelling out millions to live there.

“In Malibu Colony you can literally jump off your deck into the sand. It’s guard-gated and you’re walking distance to the best shopping and restaurants in Malibu,” says Chad Rogers. a luxury real estate agent with Hilton and Hyland in the Los Angeles area.

Still, two of the Colony’s A-list celebrities are looking to sell: Leonardo DiCaprio and Jim Carrey. In November, DiCaprio listed his Cape Cod-style compound for $23 million after attempting to lease it out for $75,000 per month during the summer rental season. Included in the hefty price tag is a four-bedroom main house, a detached two-bedroom guesthouse and a third detached loft with gym, media room and office – all squeezed onto less than half an acre of land. Not included is an address inside the gates; the actor’s home technically lies just west of the guardhouse.

At $14 million. funnyman Jim Carrey’s Colony home isn’t quite as big by neighborhood standards. Occupying 0.17 of an acre, it touts five bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths, a rooftop deck with a hot tub and a private patch of ocean frontage. More than the miniscule lot size, Carrey’s property parcel is narrow – a mere 27 feet in width compared to the “roomier” 30 to 33 feet of neighbors’ lots.

Carrey and DiCaprio are two of about 25 celebrities looking to offload eight-figure homes right now. With the help of Realtor.com and Trulia.com. we scoured through listings and property records to find the most expensive celebrity homes currently for sale in the U.S.

Los Angeles’ Platinum Triangle – comprised of Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Holmby Hills — is where the kind of glitterati who escape to Malibu Colony on the weekends have their main digs. Homes in the Triangle boast the most precious celebrity amenity: privacy. There are two types of properties there: multi-acre estates situated down long driveways behind tall hedges, and side-by-side mansions located in guard-gated developments.

Songstress Christina Aguilera is asking $13.5 million for her Beverly Hills abode. Sitting behind private gates on Doheny Road, the pink-hued 10,000-square-foot manse has six bedrooms, nine baths, a gym, a beauty salon, a gift-wrapping area and a pool with water slide in the backyard. The guesthouse, perhaps not surprisingly, has a recording studio.

Actor-producer Mark Wahlberg has relisted the Beverly Hills home on Oak Pass he has been trying to shuck since 2008. Originally listed for $15.9 million, the new asking price is $13 million. The estate includes an 11,500-square foot mansion, a two-bedroom guest house, a 2,500-square-foot gym with boxing ring, a pool with a grotto, and a putting green. The Massachusetts native also created a Boston Celtics-themed basketball court on the 1.7-acre property. The Ted star is reportedly upsizing into a custom-built 33,000-square foot compound in another nearby Platinum Triangle community, Beverly Park.

A celebrity name won’t increase the value of a property, but it helps in marketing, says Joyce Rey. a Coldwell Banker Previews International agent who has sold homes for the likes of Ringo Starr, Goldie Hawn, Nicholas Cage, Renee Zellweger and Maria Shriver.

In some cases, particularly for homes associated with dead icons, sellers hope that history will lure moneyed collectors. Four homes on our list have been marketed this way, including the $30 million former family home of screen legend Katharine Hepburn. The listing for the Old Saybrook, Conn. compound even invokes the actress’ romantic relationship with Howard Hughes, noting that in the 1930s and 1940s, he “landed his seaplane directly in front of the home.”

Still, a boldface name does not guarantee a sale. Rapper 50 Cent has been trying to shed his 48,515-square foot Farmington, Conn. mansion since 2007. Initially priced at $18.5 million, it’s been discounted to $10 million. The hulking Hartford-area home occupies nearly 18 acres and boasts 19 bedrooms, 25 full baths, multiple kitchens, a racquet ball court, indoor and outdoor pools, a shooting range and a 3,500-square-foot night club with lighted dance floor.

In California, NFL great Joe Montana ’s 500-acre Napa Valley estate debuted on the sale block with a $49 million price tag in 2009. He dropped it to $35 million in January. It has a 9,700-square foot Tuscan-style house, equestrian facilities, a basketball court, a skeet-shooting range, a bocce ball court and an olive farm. According to the property’s listing, Montana has described his eponymous ‘Villa Montana’ estate as “an expression of art and architecture.”

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