For decades, fame seemed to be the only guarantee for a quick, splashy, and profitable home sale. A celebrity’s ties to a property would create instant buzz—and served as a sure-fire tactic for luring in a line of prospective buyers.

But in recent years, that playbook seems to have faltered, leaving many of Hollywood’s most famous faces in an uphill struggle to shift their opulent homes. Few stars seem to be immune to this trend, which has affected everyone from Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger to Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.

According to celebrity real estate broker and “Selling Sunset” star Jason Oppenheim, shifting an A-list home is not what it once was, thanks in large part to one key factor: the cachet of celebrity ownership alone simply doesn’t hold the sway it once did, particularly when it comes to especially pricey properties.

What’s more, Oppenheim—whose agency has worked with the likes of Kanye West, Harry Styles, and Meryl Streep—notes that celebrity clients often have some very “unrealistic” goals when it comes to their ideal sale price.

“Celebrity homes certainly do still sell, and perhaps even at a bit of a premium,” he tells Realtor.com®. “However, celebrities (and more often their business managers) can be particularly unrealistic about their initial asking prices, often causing multiple reductions and significant days on market. This perhaps creates the impression that celebrity homes don’t sell.”

He does not place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the stars and their managers, however.

“Listing agents are also culprits in this pattern, as they want to work with the celebrity and oblige their unrealistic expectations,” he explains.

Overall, the growing list of celebrities who have spent years trying to unload their expansive abodes indicates a significant shift in the luxury market, Luxury Estate International agent Marianna Sullivan notes.

It is an evolution that Sullivan, who is based in star-studded Las Vegas, has witnessed well beyond Hollywood—and applies to wealthy buyers who are, these days, more focused on the quality of the property, rather than the star power of the A-listers who may have once lived there.

“Today’s ultraluxury buyer is more focused on ease, functionality, quality, and long-term value, and is not just star-struck,” she says.

Revealed: The most high-profile celebrity home sale struggles

Take Pratt and Schwarzenegger, for example, who have been trying to offload their custom Pacific Palisades mansion for three years—and have faced more than a few hurdles along the way.

Originally listed for $32 million in July 2023, the 13,000-square-foot home with a plethora of luxurious amenities has bounced on and off the market ever since, each time with a significant price reduction.

Last listed at the reduced price of $19.99 million, it has since been sidelined again, while the celeb couple and their children are reported to be staying in a Montecito mansion owned by fellow A-lister Katy Perry.

It’s believed that buyers balked not only at the lofty original asking price, but also at the couple’s decision to raze a landmark midcentury house to build the ultraglamorous mansion, ruffling the feathers of architecture‑conscious Angelenos.

Affleck and Lopez have also had trouble selling the Beverly Hills estate they very publicly purchased together in 2023 for $60.8  million. Following the couple’s separation in 2024, they listed the shared residence for about $68 million, apparently with no acceptable offers made.

Much like Schwarzengger and Pratt, the former couple made multiple attempts to offload their marital dwelling—which they are said to have spent millions renovating. Yet even after multiple price cuts, it lingers on the market.

Interestingly, Affleck now seems to have washed his hands of the home altogether—with reports surfacing in April that the actor had gifted his ex his portion of the mansion, leaving her free to move ahead with marketing it solo.

Weeks later, she returned the 12-bedroom mansion to the market for the even lower price of $49.99 million, more than $10 million less than what she and Affleck paid for it. Only time will tell if the latest discount helps to move the needle on the 24-bathroom home with a private theater, spa, gym, and full sports complex on about 5 acres.

Meanwhile, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin‘s Amagansett compound has been languishing on the market since 2022, when they listed it for $29 million. Today, it’s priced at $19,950,000, after having undergone a few marketing strategies, among them hard social media pushes.

Some speculate that Alec’s much-publicized legal problems from the fatal “Rust” filming accident (involving cinematographer Halyna Hutchins‘ death) have soured buyers on his Hamptons home, despite his full exoneration in the 2025 trial. Others have suggested that the older style and inland location did not appeal to buyers seeking contemporary, turnkey homes near the ocean.

In addition, Michael Jordan’s storied Chicago mansion, complete with personalized gates bearing his jersey number “23,” was finally sold in 2024 for only $9.5 million, after 13 years and multiple relistings, down from $29 million.

The home’s very specific branding, once thought to be a selling point, limited its appeal to wealthy superfans, rather than typical luxury buyers. The buyer hoped to capitalize on superfan enthusiasm, but has yet to be successful with that. He’s tried turning it into a luxury timeshare, put it on the luxury rental market, and even listed it on Airbnb.

Also, music legend Billy Joel has had double trouble selling his illustrious estates.

His Palm Beach compound languished for six years and required $22 million in price cuts before it was sold, while his sprawling Oyster Bay compound on Long Island was recently taken off the market. Originally listed in 2023 for just under $50 million, the home was reduced in price to $29.9 million.

Other celebrities, including Kris Jenner, Joy Behar, and Cara Delevingne, have also listed properties that stagnated on the market for years.

“Inherent in listings like this is there’s an assumption that an association with a celebrity brings a premium,” said longtime appraiser Jonathan Miller. “And in a market like Manhattan or the Hamptons, that simply isn’t supported by empirical data.”

“People aren’t paying a premium in general for an apartment because an actor lived there,” added Compass broker Pamela D’Arc. “It still matters how you price and how you market something.”

Many celebrity homes that languish on the market are caused by overpricing, as in the Baldwins’ case, or over-personalization, as with Jordan’s sports palace.

But other factors are at play as well. High-profile markets like Los Angeles, Miami, and the Hamptons all have an oversupply of $15 million to $30 million estates. At those levels, buyers can commission their own dream homes instead of retrofitting someone else’s fantasy.

Carrying costs are also an issue—massive properties are burdened by soaring taxes—especially in markets like Los Angeles, where the mansion tax hinders high-end sales. There are also sky-high maintenance and staffing expenses, which may inhibit even the wealthiest buyers.

What worked for the stars who did manage to sell quickly?

Not every celebrity home takes years to sell. Some are whisked off the market quickly. When Drew Barrymore quietly listed her converted 1920s barn in the Hamptons for $8.45 million recently, it was sold in fewer than 30 days.

Despite a cooling luxury market, buyers snapped it up because it hit all the right notes: a manageable size, a fresh design, and a price in line with recent comps. The celebrity connection may have helped visibility, but the home’s fundamental virtues sold it.

Similarly, the late Gene Hackman’s longtime Santa Fe estate was sold within one month of listing in early 2026—for a $6.25 million asking price—even though his and his wife’s bodies had been found there about a year earlier.

The likely reason the home was sold so quickly is that the price fit the region’s luxury market, and the sales approach—low‑key, authentic, and realistic—stood out in a market often inflated by overconfidence.

Billionaire Bill Gates recently offloaded one of the homes that borders his Xanadu 2.0 compound. He sold the four-bedroom Washington state abode for close to $300,000 over his $4.8 million asking price in a matter of days.

According to property records, the sale of the home, which is located in the tony waterfront suburb of Medina, closed on March 16, with the final price listed as $5.09 million. Gates wasn’t looking to make a killing—that price was right in line with other luxury homes in the area.

Even actor Will Arnett’s sleek Beverly Hills modern was sold in about a month at $20 million, although the price was roughly 10% below the asking price. That strategic pricing acknowledged the shifting demand in L.A.’s luxury segment.

Jim Carrey, who quickly found a buyer for his longtime Brentwood estate once he trimmed the price to $17 million and delisted it, is another example of humility in pricing, solid amenities, and turnkey appeal working far better than star wattage alone.

Each of these homes shared the ingredients that now seem to define celebrity success: realistic pricing that reflects data, not ego; broad appeal, not hyper-specialized interest; and modernized and versatile interiors.

Celebrity homes remain fascinating to the public, and media coverage still drives awareness. But awareness is not liquidity. In a world where interest rates, algorithms, and aesthetics drive demand, a famous name adds curiosity, but doesn’t necessarily secure a sale.

“Celebrities are not immune to these market dynamics,” says  Raleigh Realty owner and agent Ryan Fitzgerald. While aesthetics and location are important, the key to a quick sale seems to be, more than anything, price cuts.

He cites celebrities who slashed millions off their original asking prices to move their multimillion-dollar mansions, including Steve Winn, Kanye West, Sofia Vergara, and Sugar Ray Leonard.

In essence, the proof is in the sales sheets: Barrymore and Hackman closed in weeks; Jordan and Joel have measured their timelines in years. The gravitational pull of celebrity seems to have weakened against the hard logic of square footage, design relevance, and price per foot.

Ultimately, the market has matured. Buyers have evolved. And stars, if they want to sell, must evolve with them. Fame can open the door, but in 2026, what actually closes the deal is discipline, data, and design—three things money can’t fake, and celebrity can’t replace.