Are my landlords coming back?

I am renting a nice home (rent is ~$7k, 3BR/2BA, 8 months left on a ~18 mo lease) in the Palo Alto/Mountain View area from an employee of a FAANG. The employee (and family) had been living there for approx 13 years, with 2 teenaged children, so the kids effectively grew up in this home. The parents both came from German-speaking countries, but the children were born and raised here in US. The employee was moved to Germany with his family, and when we rented in the first place, the parents suggested they yearned to return to Europe. They were candid and also said they were uncertain their children would want to stay in Europe however. So the lease term reflects the possibility that their oldest child would want to come back to the US to go to college. I love the home and the neighborhood, and with housing prices what they are, I would love to be able to extend my lease. I was thinking I would be willing to sign a 5 year lease, maybe longer. I’m very intimidated by housing prices here, and just don’t feel it’s so vital to compromise on location just to own some bland $2M home in the Southbay. Is that rational? I have 2 children and don’t foresee leaving here imminently because of the career opportunities. I understand buying vs renting kind of nets out to be even over a 10-15 year period, given the premium you pay to own here. Now, for whatever reason, I’ve indirectly but pretty clearly asked my landlord (the wife) how things are in Europe, how their children are adjusting to get some input on whether she’s inclined one way or another and she hasn’t bitten or addressed my questions (we communicate via WhatsApp). I figure I dont really need to know their answer until 3 mos before lease is over, but for peace of mind, want to know. Since I’m not gonna know the answer for a few more months, was hoping for the psychic wisdom of you freaks. What do you think? Seems there are arguments that cut both ways. On the one hand, why move your family all the way around the world *to your homeland* for 18 months only to come back to boring South Bay? On the other hand, seems likely that teenagers thrust into a foreign culture for 18 months would probably want to come back home for college, no?