I agree with your assessment here. Los Altos homes have been holding up pretty well going through the first recession that ended in 2009 (not significantly up or down in prices as compared to other locations in CA). The reasons are because of the specific types of populations (families who have been living here for a long long time, or the relatively affluent, high educated new residents/families with well-paying jobs in high tech industries, business owners, and medical/health fields). As a result, they didn't have a severe financial stress and under a great pressure to sell their homes during the recession. I have seen homes placed on and off the market for a couple of years, though still not sold yet, but the owners just simply refused to drop the selling prices significantly. We may already in the 2nd recession or just begin the 2nd recession, just wait and see how Los Altos homes price would fluctuate? I don't anticipate the prices come up at all, but also don't come down significantly as well. Another interesting observation that I have, for people who newly come to Los Altos to settle, they come here for specific reasons (i.e. jobs, schools, etc). It is rare to see people who are between 30 and 40 years old can afford to buy homes here. The majority of population is older than that age range. In short, all I see pointing to the stability of the area.