Rate on 30-year mortgage dips to 3.32 percent

WASHINGTON >> Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell this week near record lows, providing more incentive for Americans to buy homes and refinance.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan dipped to 3.32 percent. That’s below last week’s rate of 3.34 percent. And it’s just above 3.31 percent, the lowest rate on records dating to 1971.

The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage declined to 2.66 percent from 2.67 percent last week. The record low is 2.63 percent. The rate on the 30-year loan has remained below 4 percent all year, helping spark a modest housing recovery.

Sales of newly built and previously occupied homes are up from a year ago. Home prices have increased. And builders are more confident in the market and are responding by starting construction on more homes.

Hawaii lags among business-friendly states

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranks Hawaii’s small-business environment among the lowest in the U.S.

The SBE Council’s 17th U.S. Business Policy Index, which ranks states on policy measures and costs affecting small business and entrepreneurship, puts Hawaii at No. 45 among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

States lower in the rankings than Hawaii are Maine, New York, Vermont, New Jersey and California.

The states topping the rankings are South Dakota, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, Florida, Washington, Ala­bama, Utah, Colo­rado and Arizona.

The SBE Council uses 46 policy measures to arrive at the ranking, including tax, regulatory and government spending measures.

Oahu tourism slump possible, group says

A slight softening of demand for lodging on Oahu is seen for 2013, according to PKF Hospitality Research LLC, an advisory firm specializing in the hospitality industry.

Demand for Oahu is seen edging downward by 0.9 percent in the PKF forecast for 2013 released Thursday. However, it also predicts a 10.4 percent increase in average daily room rates.

Mark Woodworth, PKF-HR president, said the research is somewhat skewed by the "pall on lodging industry participants induced by the federal budget negotiations."

Should the nation not fall off the so-called fiscal cliff, he said revenue per available room, or revPAR, will increase by 6 percent. However, should budget talks fail, Woodworth said "it can be assumed that revPAR growth will be well below that."

"Hoteliers are eager to begin enjoying what appears to be a four-year period of sustained high levels of prosperity," Woodworth said.

"Unfortunately, there is so much uncertainty surrounding 2013 that no one overtly is showing the optimism that should exist."

Chinese stocks might depart U.S. market

BEIJING » A mounting dispute between Washington and Beijing over access to records of Chinese companies with U.S.-traded shares might force major corporate names such as oil giant PetroChina and search engine Baidu to withdraw from U.S. stock exchanges.

The dispute highlights the clash between heightened U.S. anti-fraud efforts and official Chinese secrecy despite Beijing’s desire to profit from deeper links with the global economy.

This month the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the Chinese affiliates of five major accounting firms of impeding fraud investigations of nine companies by failing to hand over documents. Separately, an American panel that oversees accounting wants to inspect Chinese auditors of U.S.-traded companies.

GM prepares to roll out revamped pickups

DETROIT » General Motors is giving its big pickups a much-needed makeover.

The company unveiled new versions of its top-selling Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra on Thursday, aiming to get them to showrooms by late spring or early summer.

The timing is good. Truck sales are growing after a five-year slump, and the new pickups replace models that were last revamped in 2007.

That means GM dealers have been offering pickups that are dated compared with newer Fords and Rams, which is hurting sales.

Holiday travel could be busiest in 6 years

NEW YORK » This Christmas travel season could be the busiest in six years, with AAA predicting that 93.3 million Americans will hit the road. That’s 1.6 percent more than last year and just 400,000 people shy of the 2006 record.

More cars will crowd the highways than ever before, largely because finding a seat on a plane at a desirable price has gotten more difficult. AAA says a record 84.4 million people will drive at least 50 miles between Dec. 22 and Jan. 1. That’s 90.5 percent of holiday travelers, up from 89.3 percent six years ago.

Put another way: 1 in 4 Americans will drive long distances for Christmas and New Year’s. So expect plenty of traffic jams, crowded highway rest stops and overflowing toll plazas.

The price of gas could be close to the average of $3.23 a gallon that drivers paid last Christmas. The price has dropped about 50 cents since September. AAA estimates the average price will range between $3.20 and $3.40 a gallon by New Year’s Day, according to AAA. That’s pricey, but hardly a deterrent to holiday travel.

On the Move

Business Solution Technologies has announced Steven Hurlbut as director of health care technology services. He has worked in the health care sector in national and local firms for more than 20 years and was previously chief information officer for ISI Health Enhancement Services, a subsidiary of HMSA.

Turtle Bay Resort has appointed Conrad Aquino as executive chef. He was previously an executive sous-chef for the Maui Sheraton Hotel and also served in culinary positions for Royal Hawaiian and the Kahala Resort.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii has named the following new leaders to the sales and account services department: Melissa Skoczylas as director of account management; Clint Wadsworth to director of sales from sales and account service manager; Kehau Giles as manager of sales; Michelle Lewellen to manager, account management for its midsize group market from account manager for the midsize market team; and Cherie O’Connor as manager for the sales and marketing operations.