I suspect that there are many people in San Diego who maintained their ‘rich and famous’ lifestyles by sucking the equity out of their real estate as the bubble grew

with growing equity and fog-a-mirror loans available, they refi-d every 9 to 18 months pulling out some or all of the available equity

now they are upside-down in a fancy house wondering how they will continue living the lifestyle they have become accustomed to

they have resources to draw on – retirement savings, investments, family, credit, etc so they are able to hold on longer than others might

their housing value is too high to qualify for the current govt-subsidized mortgages so their only refi option is an expensive jumbo loan from a private lender, assuming they can find one – and assuming they can address the underwater issue by negotiating the loan principle down or by bringing cash to the refi table

also, many of these ‘rich and famous’ people have complicated finances with no W-2 income – this is another challenge to obtaining a mortgage today

an old saying comes to mind, something about only finding out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out

I suspect there are many naked swimmers in La Jolla, Pt Loma, Mission Hills, etc and the tide is receding …