Real estate may well be the most important physical and economic element in today's world. No everyday activity goes unaffected by it. Real estate lies at the foundation of our civilization. Upon it we eat, sleep, walk, and perform all other activities. In Old French, the word for "thing" was "real". An individual's interest or rights to a property is referred to as real estate. Real estate is, in modern terms, the interest individuals have in the land and all that is attached thereto. Economics is the social science concerned with the study of the allocation of scarce resources so as to maximize the satisfaction of material needs and wants. In our economic system, real estate resources are allocated by the market or price system. That is, real property goes to those who are ready, willing and able to bid the highest price to obtain it.