Top 10 Real Estate Stories for 2008

The government intervened in the financial markets in 2008 to the tune of $700 billion, telling taxpayers the influx of cash would be used to purchase mortgage-backed securities, which would free up cash for loans and prevent banks from closing their doors. Meanwhile, foreclosure notices rose, unemployment was the highest since 1994 and home owners were out on the street.

Where does the government get this money? From the Treasury. Where does the Treasury get this money? It prints it.

You may ask how the government is spending that $700 billion. The Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Rescue Plan -- approved by Congress and signed by President Bush on October 3rd as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 -- spent $350 billion by mid-December 2008. Instead of buying mortgage-backed securities, $250 billion went to buy stock in troubled banks and provide a bailout to the auto industry. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wants Congress to release the last half of the recovery fund to further protect financial markets, but that allocation may not happen until Obama takes office on January 20th.

_{At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California.}