Proposed Tax Credit 2009 Stimulus Package

November 20, 2008

Stimulus News: Currently the Stimulus package is considering a proposed $15,000 tax credit, which applies to all home purchases -- not just new homes and not just first time buyers. It is sponsored by Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, a former real estate broker. He said it was modeled after a similar, $2,000 homebuyer incentive that helped lead the country out of recession in 1975. The tax credit would give buyers 10 percent of the price of a primary residence bought within one year, up to $15,000, and is intended to stabilize plummeting home prices. The amendment would allow taxpayers to claim the credit on their 2008 income tax return and to spread the tax credit over two years. It also seeks to prevent misuse by only allowing purchases of a principle residence and by recapturing the credit if the home is sold within two years of purchase.

The U.S. Senate on Friday also approved an amendment to an economic stimulus bill that would direct $50 billion in funds from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program to foreclosure mitigation efforts. This program is estimated to prevent approximately 2 million foreclosures. The amendment also forces changes in the federal government's $300 billion Hope for Homeowners program to increase participation. Under the amendment, homeowners would have to share 25% of future equity in their home, rather than the current 50% requirement.

In other news:
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its index of pending home sales, which measures contracts signed but not closed, rose 6.3% to 87.7 in December from a month earlier.

Moody's Economy.com cites signs that home sales are stabilizing as people snap up bargains on foreclosures, a decline in the supply of unsold homes in many areas and expectations of moves by the Obama Administration "that will help place a floor under the housing downturn." Those measures could include lowering mortgage rates further, preventing more foreclosures and generating jobs through higher federal spending.

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Local Information for Jefferson, AL

Latitude: 33.524755 -- Longitude: -86.81274

Other Area Cities: Gardendale Bluff Park Center Point Fairfield Homewood Hoover Hueytown Leeds Mountain Brook Trussville Vestavia Hills Pleasant Grove Fultondale Alabaster Bessemer Birmingham Pelham Irondale Pinson Tarrant City McCalla

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Birmingham has a strong-mayor variant mayor-council form of government, lead by a mayor and a nine-member city council. The current system replaced the previous city commission government in 1962 (primarily as a way to remove Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor from power). By Alabama law, an issue before a city council must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote (Act No. 452, Ala. Acts 1955, as supplemented by Act No. 294, Ala. Acts 1965.). Executive powers are held entirely by the mayor's office. The current mayor of Birmingham is Bernard Kincaid, who was voted into office in 1999. The Birmingham area is home to some of America's best schools. In 2005, the Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School in Irondale, an eastern suburb of Birmingham, was rated as the #1 high school in America by Newsweek, a national publication. Mountain Brook High School placed 250 on the list. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Alabama 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Birmingham	Alabama	United States
Population	242,820	4,447,100	281,421,906
Median age	34.3	35.8	35.3
Median age for Male	31.8	34.4	34
Median age for Female	36.2	37.2	36.5
Households	98,782	1,737,080	105,480,101
Household population	233,968	4,332,380	273,643,273
Average household size	2.37	2.49	2.59
Families	59,287	1,215,968	71,787,347
Average family size	3.09	3.01	3.14
Housing units	111,927	1,963,711	115,904,641
Occupied units	98,782	1,737,080	105,480,101
Vacant units	13,145	226,631	10,424,540

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