[nostrademons]

Sunnyvale & Mountain View are interesting cases because nearby employers have experienced hyper-growth and we haven't had a recession any time in the last 4 years.

Rents absolutely did go down in 2009, oftentimes way down, with apartments that rented for $2000+/month in mid-2008 going for $1400/month by mid-2009. There's no incentive to drop rents as long as everybody is making more money and the apartments aren't lying vacant. There's a pretty strong incentive when people start getting laid off and moving back in with parents or roommates, and places aren't renting at any price.