Celebrities take big losses on home sales

If you've watched your home equity evaporate over the last couple years, take some comfort: Celebrities are losing their shirts, too. Relatively speaking, of course.

Kelsey Grammer sold his Los Angeles home for $3.3 million, 19% less than he paid in 2007. He has also pulled a larger home off the market and is now renting it after it failed to find a buyer at $18.9 million. Meanwhile Blink 182's Tom DeLonge is hoping to sell his San Diego home for $5.1 million, 20% less than he paid for the house plus renovations. He bought it in 2005.

In many ways, the real estate crash has been a lot harder on celebrities and other high-net worth types. High-end homes are lingering on the market for a long time and -- this is probably the most under-reported financial news item of the year -- the real estate crash is mostly concentrated at the upper-end of the market. The National Association of Realtors reported that homes valued at $750,000 and up fell by 47% in the year ended in November. Homes valued at $400,000 or less fell by only 3% during the same period.