New Delhi, Oct. 19 -- Even two of tennis's greatest champions could not find an easy win in the luxury property market. Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, whose careers brought them immense sporting success and wealth, sold their sprawling California estate for $20 million in 2006 after struggling to find a buyer for years.

The couple had purchased the property in Tiburon, an affluent town in California's Marin County overlooking San Francisco Bay, for $23 million in 2001 - the year they married. When they eventually sold it, the price was about $3 million below their purchase price.

The sale offered a reminder that owning a prestigious property does not guarantee a profitable exit. Even a home with extraordinary amenities and celebrity owne...