[Leader]

As a 30-year L.A. resident who's parlayed the real estate market up more than once, I agree that the current "hot market" is about to cool off. However, if history is any indication, the only time real estate values have actually declined significantly was the period immediately following a large earthquake. When the SoCal housing market "cools off" prices just stop going UP, they don't actually go down. And, if they do go down in some less desirable areas, they go down in single percentage digits - never in the 30-60% range. At least that's been my experience. Of course, there are always exceptions.
It's really about supply-and-demand. In the really "hot" areas of Los Angeles there are no (or very few) vacant lots upon which to build. As long as people want to move into those neighborhoods, the prices will hold. In the past the only variables that changed that dynamic were natural disasters. Even a recurring crappy economy has not had a large negative effect on Southern California real estate values in the past three decades. It's actually kind of amazing.