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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

I hope you all were able to catch the 44^th Annual Azalea Dogwood Festival this past weekend. We have spent the last week or so highlighting some of the flowers and trees blooming right now here in Dothan, and the Festival is a great way to see them first hand.

Azalea’s come in many colors, and when they bloom they absolutely cover the bush with flowers. Pink, white, and a light purple are the most common colors. You’ll even see blooming azaleas year round in our header picture above.

Click on the picture for a larger size

Interested in living along the Azalea Dogwood Trail? CLICK HERE for a map of homes for sale in this part of Dothan.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The Azalea Dogwood Festival is this weekend. The Dogwood is one of the star attractions. Don’t miss the opportunity to take a ride through some of Dothan’s most beautiful neighborhoods and enjoy the natural beauty our area has to offer.

click on a picture for larger image

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Interested in living along the Azalea Dogwood Trail? CLICK HERE for a map of homes for sale in this part of Dothan.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Foreclosures are trending up. We all know that because we hear about it in the media every day. Foreclosures in the Dothan area are up too, but seem to have leveled off in the past few weeks. There is no way anyone could conclude from these numbers that the Dothan real estate market is suffering because of a greater number of foreclosures on the market.

The average number of notices so far this year has been about 23 per week. The last couple of months of 2007 the average was around 16. Large jump percentage wise, but in overall numbers, not so much.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The Wisteria Vine?s light purple color can make for a stark contrast to many other plants blooming this time of year. And because it is a vine, it is sometimes hard to tame. The most beautiful of these vines are in places where they are allowed to grow on the side of a building.

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Interested in living along the Azalea Dogwood Trail? CLICK HERE for a map of homes for sale in this part of Dothan.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

I have heard a Spirea bush called a ?snowball bush? because when you see it from a distance that?s what it looks like. The flowers are actually clustered in groups of a dozen or so blooms, and they are as white as snow.

Interested in living along the Azalea Dogwood Trail? CLICK HERE for a map of homes for sale in this part of Dothan.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Here?s another of the magnificent blooming trees and bushes you?ll find around Dothan this time of year. It is hard to argue that springtime is the most beautiful time of the year.

The Flowering Peach comes in white (shown below), pink, and red. I?m 99% sure this is a Flowering Peach, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The Azalea Dogwood Festival marks the annual return of spring to the Dothan area. We have been posting over the past week or so some beautiful pictures of trees and shrubs that are blooming around the area right now. This Sunday, March 30, you can see them first hand by following the 44^th Annual Azalea Dogwood trail.

Ribbon cutting will be at 2:00 pm at the corner of West Main and Woodland Drive. After driving the trail, ?Sunday in the Park? festivities will take place at Solomon Park, including entertainment, free refreshments, and children?s games. Make plans now to attend!

Click on the map to enlarge.

There is a good number of homes for sale along the trail, so if you see any home you might be interested in, contact our office to arrange a showing.

Thanks to Rickey Stokes for the map, and also the great coverage of this event.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Why are Alabama Property Taxes so low?

This was a question posed on Trulia Voices last week. We have also discussed the subject here.

Having some of the lowest property taxes in the country does not mean that the government won’t get in your wallet some other way. Alabama has a state income tax (5% on all income over $3,000 single/$6,000 married) and a state sales tax of 4%. Still, when comparing this tax structure with a high property tax state such as Florida, you’ll see that the tax burden on the citizens of Alabama is still one of the lowest in the country. Alabama residents on average lose 28% of their income to federal, state, and local taxes, which ranks 49th in the nation. Only Oklahoma is lower.

While property owners benefit from the low taxes, there is a downside. Property tax collections in Alabama are used primarily to fund education. A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of some Lawrence and Sumter County public school students challenging the state’s property tax system. The plaintiff’s contend that Alabama property tax revenues do not sufficiently fund K-12 schools and that disproportionately hurts black students. You can read the article from the Birmingham News on AL.com (hat tip to Doc’s Political Parlor).

The premise of the lawsuit is that property taxes, and all taxes for that matter, set up by the 1901 Alabama state constitution are racially discriminatory, and that local governments are forced to raise money for education using more regressive taxes, such as a sales tax. It certainly is an interesting argument. It is also certain that voters will not vote to change the property tax structure in Alabama. If this lawsuit is successful, change may be thrust upon us.

UPDATE - The Huntsville Times has a pretty good editorial about the lawsuit. And so does The Times Daily.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Links to interesting, though not necessarily real estate related, articles from around Alabama and beyond. Read each one, because there will be a test on Monday.

From The Tuscaloosa News - Homebuilders and Firefighters are at odds over the establishment of uniform statewide building codes. You may just be surprised who is on what side.

From The Montgomery Advertiser - Alabama National Guard soldiers, along with other Alabama military members, have another problem when their credit gets bad. They lose their security clearance. And that could mean they lose their job.

From The Mobile Press-Register - Two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, several Mobile County residents are finally getting federal help to repair or rebuild their damaged homes.

From The Birmingham Business Journal - Alabama and North Carolina tied for best pre-kindergarten programs in the country.

Have a great Easter weekend!

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

February brought a nice upturn after a couple of months of slow activity. As we discussed last week, sales were strong and pending sales are good. How about inventory? I?m glad you asked.

Inventory

Inventory was down in February, with 928 single family units on the market for sale. Looking at the graph, inventory has remained fairly steady since fall. We could stand to shed 100 or so listings, but as long as the number doesn?t start going back up again, the market will be ok.

Absorption rate

The absorption rate for March is up to 12.16 months. Because we use a three month rolling average of sales to figure absorption rate, the lower number of homes on the market last month had little effect. Using a three month average helps smooth out the ups and downs of the market, and gives a more accurate picture of what is happening.

Inventory and absorption rates can vary between different areas around Dothan. If you would like to see these numbers for a particular area, drop us an email or leave a comment below with your request!

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