One comment, a $600,000 home in socal is above average price. Plenty of 4-5 bedrooms depending on which county.
Just wanting you to get your exaggerations correct.
Then prices have fallen even more than I suggested after my trip down to So-Cal in March, 2007. In March, I suggested house prices had fallen 15% to 25%. Pretty standard sized three bedroom, two bath houses in Calabasas and Encino had fallen about 25%. Houses in Encino average over $ 850,000 and Calabasas prices are much higher.
I lived down there from 1992 - 2000, so i know the area very well. Here is a typical house in Glendale, CA where I lived for about one year:
$ 767,000 Glendale Home -- Featured on CraigsList