NEW YORK, Feb 7: Even Hollywood’s rich and famous can’t avoid the housing downturn that’s sweeping America. In Los Angeles, only 4,430 homes were sold in December, down 48% from the previous year. And prices fell 11 per cent to an average $470,000, according to an ABC news report on Thursday.

The celebrity homes cost much more than average home an entry-level for an up-and-coming star costs at least $1.4 million in L.A., say experts.

Realtor Barry Sloane of Sotheby’s International Realty says it’s the owners trying to sell homes in the $3 million to $6 million range that are having the most trouble, the report said.

“A lot of those people are involved, in one way or another, with the strike,” said Sloane. “They’re upgrading from lesser houses that they’re having trouble selling because of the market, so it’s like a domino effect.”

Young rocker now a super star Avril Lavigne has had to reduce the price on her five-bedroom, six-bath house in Beverly Hills from $6.9 million to $5.8 million. The property is currently in escrow.

The Hollywood Hills home is in a gated community just off Mulholland Drive, and includes a tennis court and pool. Since she put the house on the market in February 2007, two offers have fallen through. In the public listing, her agent calls the house “One of the best values on the market today.”

Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash (also known as Saul Hudson) feels he overpaid for his Spanish-style Hollywood Hills home, which has a pool, a separate gym and stunning views. He bought the house in January 2006 for $6.2 million. He sold it last December for $5.7 million.

Slash is suing his former real estate agent, claiming the house was neither as big nor as private as the agent claimed. The case is ongoing in California Superior Court, the report said Former talk show host Johnny Carson’s sidekick Ed McMahon is also having real estate troubles.

He put his 7,000-square-foot Beverly Hills home on the market In July 2006 for $7.7 million. He has since reduced the price three times, and the house is now selling for $5.7 million, the report said.