How did the housing market crisis start?

Can someone write a summery about how this whole house market crisis stared and how it transferred itself to financial markets. I want to know what exactly happened, what was the ignition spark, and what added the fuel to the fire. I kind of know this, but I would truly appreciate someone more experienced explaining this. A good article or two or even a topic might do the trick as well.

Part 1
Part 2

ALso see the link in this thread fro an explanation.

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=70821

And don't miss this. http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/co...-prime-crisis/

Search youtube for Barney Frank/Fannie Mae and see http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29696

Greenspan wanted to buy a house, so he lowered all the rates to something he could afford and the rest is history !

mp

Rewind to 1996. Robert Rubin the Treasury Secretary at the time starts printing money like there's no tomorrow. And at the same time Alan Greenspan (Fed Chairman) lowers rates. The result was the 1996 to 2000 stock market bubble. The bubble burst but rolled over into real estate because the free and easy credit fundamentals were still in play (treasury printing tons of money trying to get out from under the recession with low interest rates). There were some additional contributing factors as certain government officials used their power to strongarm banks into making risky loans. (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac).

Now we have a new president and he is trying the same thing to get out from under the problem (print more money). Though he's doing it through fiscal policy and 3+trillion$ budgets and 1 trillion$ bailouts but the result is the same. Read the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

Every government from the beginning that went through the boom/bust scenario that also tries to inflate its way out of recession/depression only ended up prolonging the ordeal. This time it ISN'T different.

As a footnote, if this were medieval times, the heads of Rubin and Greenspan would be sitting fitfully on a pike outside the White House.

Some things are really starting to make sense to me now. Thank you all for great posts.