Downtown areas all around the country are usually the safest places in a housing downturn.  But you still hear it all the time how the real estate bust has been affecting one city more than another.  But one thing we have learned is that housing prices fare the best in the core of big cities. 

Los Angeles, on the other hand, has stood out when it comes to good house prices.  There is no core to Los Angeles .  It's just one extensive string of suburbs that run together.

While lower priced homes are loosing their value slightly, the more expensive homes are actually seeing an increase in value.  And the areas most notable place of high end real estate is Westside Los Angeles, where wealthy neighborhoods such as Westwood, Beverly Hills , and Brentwood are more insulated.  

Median home prices in Hollywood Hills are up 26%, Brentwood is up 16%, Palos Verdes and Rancho Palos Verdes is up 17%, and parts of Newport Beach are up a whopping 67%.

You can't disagree that Westside Los Angeles is the place to be.