Last month we launched the 2008 Inman News reader survey.  We had a great response from our readers and would like to thank everyone for their valuable feedback.  As promised, we held a random drawing of the survey participants for a chance to win a $250 Amazon.com gift card.

And the winner is:

Mari Tsukamoto

Mari works for LuxuryRealEstate.com in Seattle as an in-house Web Designer in the Technology department. Her company offers web and print marketing services, as well as events and conferences to a network of luxury real estate professionals worldwide.

Congratulations Mari!

Flickr photo by Ewan-M

UK readers, mark your calendars. On October 16th in London, industry professionals will be gathering with Inman News publisher Bradley Inman at 6pm at the Windmill Pub in Mayfair. It's being hosted by the good folks at Nestoria and you can read more about the gathering on the following blogs: Nestoria Blog, theRatandMouse, Globrix Blog and Renthusiast.

Similar meetups will be held in the following European capitals:

Amsterdam - October 23rd (stay tuned to nieuwbouw20 for details)

Paris - October 27th

Berlin - Date TBA.

We hope to see you there! If you have any questions about any of these events; please feel free to email joel [at] inman.com.

"Foreclosure Alley," a disturbing video by SoCal Connected that shows what is left behind in the wake of foreclosure.

"The anxiety we feel about rising prices, plummeting home values and a weak dollar is real. But perhaps we should take comfort in the fact that, historically, recessions are relatively short and they're usually followed by long periods of prosperity."

From a Brief History of Recessions by Harvard Business Publishing.

The New York Times displays, with maps and charts, the source of the "no" votes in the U.S. House of Representatives over the $700 billion federal plan to kick-start the financial markets. The legislation has been referred to as a "rescue" or "bailout" plan, depending on who you talk to. The House voted down the bill in a 228-205 vote Monday (see Inman News article).

The Senate will revisit the issue in considering similar legislation -- a vote is expected later today on the Senate's version of the plan.

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported that public support has declined for the government plan. A survey conducted Sept. 27-29 found that 45 percent of respondents said the government plan is the right thing to do, while 38 percent said it's the wrong thing to do and 17 percent didn't know or refused to answer.

That compares to a Sept. 19-22 survey, which found that 57 percent said it's the right thing to do, 30 percent said it's the wrong thing and 13 percent either didn't know or refused to answer.

As down as the financial and housing markets are right now, everyone knows that the best investors make money in up AND down markets.  Hitwise Intelligence just reported that the internet search term, "houses for sale," just reached its highest volume in 2 years.

Might this indicate that real estate investors are "timing the bottom," and preparing to re-invest?  

Inman News has compiled a list of the 100 most influential people in real estate. This list reflects the industry’s best and brightest and also includes those individuals from outside of the real estate industry whose actions influence the business of buying and selling homes. The people on this list embody leadership, innovation, ingenuity, power and persistence.

100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders: 2008 is an Inman News Special Report and is available exclusively to Inman News Premium Members.

Premium Members can download their copy of the report immediately.

All of the Inman News Special Reports can be accesed with an Inman News Premium Membership. Join today, Membership costs only $149 a year.

"You tell me your precious markets will melt down without this? Why do I care? Your stock market can go to goddamn zero on Monday, and then you can come down here with me to find out how it feels not to be able pay the bills. More than half of Americans have no stake in these markets, no savings at all; and there is a political price to be paid for extreme inequality of income."

--Mortgage broker and syndicated columnist Lou Barnes on Friday, discussing the attitude many working class Americans have about the Bush administration's proposal to borrow $700 billion to buy troubled assets from banks and financial institutions.

The Dow fell nearly 800 points today after the House rejected legislation that would have implemented the plan (see Inman News story).

It was the biggest one day point drop in Dow history -- the index fell 685 points on the first trading day after the 9-11 attacks -- but the 7 percent decline didn't equal the 20 percent plus drops seen on "Black Monday" in October 1987 or the 1929 crash.

Barry Ritholtz, of the Big Picture, has an extremely comprenhensive list of links to various sources from around the financial and journalistic world that relate to the federal bailout plan.

If you want to go to just one place to get as much informaiton as possible about the plan and its impliacations, check out Barry's bailout linkfest. 

One refreshing consequence of the financial meltdown is Hollywood and athletic celebs taking a back seat to serious debates by well-educated economists and analysts.

Our consumption culture has been led by our celebrity culture in which bling and late-night antics in Las Vegas clubs define accomplishment. Wanting to be like "them" contributed to out of control consumption and more debt. 

Now, the news is packed with smart people trying diligently to think through difficult economic and political issues to forge a positive public outcome.

That is a nice change.