Your Guide to Living In Greater Birmingham

Alabama Sales Tax Holiday 2007

12:01 am, Friday, August 3, 2007 will be the starting point and 12:00 midnight Sunday, August 5, 2007 will be the finish line for time for Alabama’s Second Annual Tax Holiday shopping marathon. This Tax Holiday aims to afford financial relief to Back-To-School shoppers across the state a $3.3 million break. Governor Riley stated, "At a time when families need it most, this change will let them keep more of their hard-earned dollars. It will offer tax relief to Alabama families from the burden of the state's sales tax on items their children need for school." For more information about exempted items, city participation, and county participation check out this article at the Alabama Department of Revenue. Also feel free to read this article from the Birmingham Business Journal. Happy Shopping!

Strong Birmingham Housing Market Should Continue

Realtors' chief economist tells Rotarians to concentrate on local market

Birmingham Business Journal - 3:09 PM CDT Wednesday

by Lauren Bishop Cooper

Staff

David Lereah, senior vice president and chief economist of the National Association of Realtors , delivered good news Wednesday to the Rotary Club of Birmingham: The nation's housing market isn't as bad off as the media would have you think.

Outlining conditions in the national and local real estate markets, Lereah encouraged the Rotarians to tell the news media that real estate is a local market and shouldn't be judged against the rest of the country. The data is there is to support the good news for Birmingham, he said.

There are some major metro areas in the country that are experiencing "big pain," Lereah said, citing Miami and Las Vegas as prime examples.

He said two-thirds of the country is currently experiencing a real estate recession and the news media pundits apparently expect that decrease to spread to the rest of the country. He said he believes Birmingham is among that third of the country that will avoid a major housing downturn.

According to Lereah, Birmingham's metro area is benefiting, if indirectly, from the problems that the Gulf Coast and Florida have had in the past year due to Hurricane Katrina. Those benefits will continue for another decade, he said.

He said that Birmingham needs to support businesses that will create jobs to attract those households and businesses that are leaving the coastal areas for good.

Lereah expects real estate prices to continue to fall in most U.S. markets. In areas that experienced the largest price appreciation in recent years, a correction is needed, he said, this time citing San Francisco as the best example.

Lereah predicted that 2007 will be a modest year in real estate, although he encouraged Rotary Club members to ignore negative press and concentrate on how the fundamentals of the marketplace are playing out in Birmingham.

Lereah's latest book, "All Real Estate is Local," will be released by Doubleday in February.

A Patriotic Wish by Edgar Guest

I'd like to be the sort of man the flag could boast about; I'd like to be the sort of man it cannot live without; I'd like to be the type of man That really is American: The head-erect and shoulders-square, Clean-minded fellow, just and fair, That all men picture when they see The glorious banner of the free. I'd like to be the sort of man the flag now typifies, The kind of man we really want the flag to symbolize; The loyal brother to a trust, The big, unselfish soul and just, The friend of every man oppressed, The strong support of all that's best, The sturdy chap the banner's meant, Where'er it flies, to represent. I'd like to be the sort of man the flag's supposed to mean, The man that all in fancy see wherever it is seen, The chap that's ready for a fight Whenever there's a wrong to right, The friend in every time of need, The doer of the daring deed, The clean and generous handed man That is a real American.