^^ no doubt re: housings "fads". For some reason, people are willing to pay top$ for McMansions. Although their not MY style and will most likely be torn down before any of the lower-city's older homes will, they are indeed a fad.
Watch within the next few years (sooner than later), the new "fad" will be green homes. Something along the lines of this:
http://www.larealestateblog.net/los_angeles_real_estate_w/2007/03/prefab_homes.html
I can bet in the near-future when fossil fuels are a thing of the past, these new 'green' homes will replace the majority of the over-sized, energy sucking McMansions (which is a good thing).