You have probably read the stories of celebrities buying homes last year despite the recession and fear of a double-dip. It seemed like those with truly “big money” were invincible despite the nation’s real estate woes. Yet not all celebrities scored big in terms of real estate luck as some of them struck out and suffered losses just like everyone else. Some of them – like Latoya Jackson, Timothy Busfield, and hip-hop entrepreneur Damon Dash just to name a few – even faced foreclosure [1]. Below, we’ve listed some of the celebrity “busts” in real estate in 2010.

Scarlett Johansson may seem like she has everything together, but she lost big in 2010 real estate-wise. The $7 million she spent in May 2007 on a huge house in star-studded Outpost Estates section of Los Angeles has suffered a $3 million loss in June of 2010. The 1930s Spanish hillside villa, which boasts of neighbors such as desperate housewife Felicity Huffman and Oscar winner Charlize Theron, sold in 2010 for far less than what it was worth and made a serious slash in Johansson’s pocketbook. With a divorce from actor Ryan Reynolds in the works at the time of publication, she just might be in for more real estate losses in 2011 as their marital home (predicted to hit the lists any day now) was a $2.9 million mid-century palace in Los Feliz, Los Angeles.

If you think Scarlett Johansson’s loss was huge, wait until you hear about Nicholas Cage’s foreclosure. The famous actor who is currently burning up the screen in multiple action/adventure movies could be considered perhaps the biggest loser of 2010. Cage, known for his notorious property collection, had to sell a dozen or more of his homes around the world for prices that were far lower than what he originally paid for them. Even some of his poshest properties succumbed to foreclosure: a Bavarian schloss, a castle in the English countryside, and a historic estate in Middletown, Rhode Island. To make matters worse, his primary residence at the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles (owned formerly by Dean Martin and Tome Jones) was seized by the bank in late 2010.

There were other big celebrity losses in 2010 and with the economy still trying to pick up the pieces of the bust, there just might be more losses in 2011. Let us hope, though, that everyone – from the famous celebrities to the not-so-famous ordinary people – has learned their lessons and these losses can be cut to a minimum.

[1]http://www.shelterpop.com/2010/12/16/celebrity-real-estate-losers/