Rate on 30-year fixed mortgage steady at 3.53 percent
WASHINGTON >> The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was unchanged this week near historic lows, while the average rate on the 15-year loan fell. Low mortgage rates could help strengthen the housing recovery.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan stayed at 3.53 percent. That’s still near the 3.31 percent rate reached in November, the lowest in records dating to 1971.
The rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage dropped to 2.77 percent from 2.81 percent last week. The record low is 2.63 percent.
Cheap mortgages are encouraging more people to buy homes and refinance, trends that could help boost the economy this year. Increased sales are helping push home prices up steadily.
Hawaii Advanced Imaging hires ex-athlete
Former University of Hawaii football and basketball standout Jeremiah Ostrowski has been hired as a marketing representative at Hawaii Advanced Imaging, an outpatient imaging center.
Ostrowski will be responsible for working with physicians throughout the state to identify and facilitate medical imaging solutions for patients, maintaining professional relationships with the company’s existing referring physician base and representing the company in community outreach events.
Ostrowski, who was a slotback last season for the football team and the starting point guard in 2011-12 for the basketball squad, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from UH and is a graduate of Punahou School.
Alaska Air mulls Everett, Wash., flights
Alaska Airlines is preparing to possibly offer some flights to Hawaii from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., rather than the larger Seattle-Tacoma Airport if it needs to make a switch due to competitive reasons.
The Seattle-based carrier, which flies 20 percent of its schedule to the islands, said Thursday it is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to add Paine Field as an authorized airport if Alaska Air were to begin jet service out of the regional airport in the future. Alaska currently serves all the major Hawaiian Islands from Sea-Tac Airport.
The airline said it has provided the FAA with a proposed schedule over the next five years that could include 28 round-trip jet flights a week. They include four flights a week on the airline’s Boeing 737-800 between Everett and Honolulu and three flights a week between Everett and Kahului.
"We continue to believe that our flights at Sea-Tac Airport and in Bellingham best serve the Puget Sound region’s needs for affordable air travel, particularly in light of the significant investments both airports have made recently to improve their facilities," said Andrew Harrison, Alaska’s vice president of planning and revenue management. "That said, if one or more other airlines begin operations at Paine Field, we would commence service alongside these carriers."
Paine Field has no adequate passenger terminal, which would need to be built before operations by any airline could begin. Sea-Tac Airport is 42 miles south of Paine Field, while Bellingham International Airport is about a one-hour drive north of Everett.
HPR to go on air in Kona by ‘end of March’
Hawaii Public Radio will have KHPH-FM 88.7 on the air in Kailua-Kona by April 14, now that the funds needed to purchase and install equipment, and cover the first year’s overhead, have been raised.
A $20,000 gift from the McInerny Foundation, a $5,000 gift in memory of KTA Super Stores founders Koichi and Taniyo Taniguchi, and other large and small gifts from HPR donors helped the fund drive culminate at $101,491, according to President and General Manager Michael Titterton.
KHPH will carry the national and local public radio programming heard on Oahu at KIPO-FM 89.3 and on Maui at KIPM-FM 89.7, the program stream branded as HPR-2.
Applications on file with the Federal Communications Commission require an April 14 on-air date, but Titterton expects to be on the air "well before the end of March," he said.
Investor sues Apple for more cash
NEW YORK » With its annual meeting looming and its stock on the decline, Apple is facing a rebellion from an influential investor who wants the company to stop stockpiling cash and give it to shareholders instead.
Greenlight Capital said Thursday that it is suing Apple in federal court in New York over the company’s proposal to eliminate the possibility of issuing preferred stock. David Einhorn, who heads the investment fund, said the proposal would close down one avenue for Apple to reward shareholders with more cash.
Apple is still the world’s most valuable company, but its stock has lost 35 percent of its value since September, as it has become obvious that its once-rapid growth has slowed down. The company is quite profitable and is sitting on a huge $137 billion cash reserve. Wall Street wants the company to share more of that money with its shareholders rather than tucking it away in low-yielding bank accounts.
In a statement, Apple said its management and board continue "active discussions" about what to do with the money and will take Einhorn’s proposal into consideration.
Apple’s stock jumped $13.52, or 3 percent, Thursday to $468.22.
On the Move
The Howard Hughes Corp. announced it has:
>> Promoted Nicholas D. “Nick” Vanderboom to senior vice president from vice president of development. He was previously vice president of development for TPMC California.
>> Hired Michael Yee as development director. He was previously a project manager at the Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa.
>> Hired Doug Johnstone as development manager. He was previously with Kamehameha Schools.
>> Hired Race Randle as development director. He was previously working for Forest City Hawaii.
