I have a friend living in China whose brother in law just applied for a EB-5 investment visa, which has to do with investing $500,0000 into the United States to get a visa.  One of the purposes of this visa was to have his 17 year old son go to high school here in the States to learn better english in preparation for his college education here. 

As such he is now looking to buy a home in our local markets particularly Saratoga for this duration.  This is just one example of the multitude of changes I am now seeing in our area.  There are more and more influx of buyers coming from overseas and to them our real estate prices are cheap.  I am not just saying that, but having been and studied the real estate market in Hong Kong ( which is like a mini New York City) and Shanghai, i do understand their mindset. 

With the wide array of technology, business sector, great weather, and close proximity to Asia, this area is a sure bet to have more and more buyers coming to the States for investment and or second homes.

I personally think that our market has bottomed in 2009 and we are on our way back.  May not be as fast as we think but there is clearly more  demand then supply right now.