Rate on 30-year mortgage rises to 3.63 percent
WASHINGTON >> The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week to its highest level in seven months but remains near historic lows. Low mortgage rates have helped support the gradually recovering housing market.
Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for the 30-year fixed loan rose to 3.63 percent from 3.52 percent last week. It’s the highest rate since August, but it’s still near the 3.31 percent reached in November, which was the lowest on records dating to 1971. The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 2.79 percent, up from 2.76 percent last week. The record low is 2.63 percent.
Cheap mortgages are encouraging more people to buy or refinance and are helping sustain the economy’s recovery. The increased sales are also helping lift home prices.
Hawaiian Air boosting Portland capacity
Hawaiian Airlines has accelerated its plans to increase seat capacity in service between Honolulu and Portland, Ore., by three weeks due to the earlier-than-expected delivery of the second of five Airbus A330-200 aircraft joining the fleet this year.
The transition from Hawaiian’s 264-seat Boeing 767-300 aircraft to its 294-seat A330 will start April 20 and add nearly 11,000 new air seats to the route annually. It also will increase Hawaiian’s cargo capacity on the route by 25 percent.
Commercial 787 flights may start in weeks
TOKYO » Boeing said in Japan today that it sees commercial flights of its grounded 787 jets resuming "within weeks" even though it has not pinpointed the cause of battery overheating.
Boeing Co. Chief Project Engineer Michael Sinnett outlined a fix centered on a new design for the lithium-ion battery system that has many layers of safeguards to prevent overheating. It also has measures to contain any problems if malfunctions do occur.
"We could be back up and going in weeks and not months," Sinnett told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. A third of safety tests have already been completed. A Japanese official said it was possible flights could resume next month.
The 787 fleet was grounded worldwide by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, its counterparts in Japan and other nations in January, following a battery fire in a Dreamliner parked in Boston and an overheated battery that led to an emergency landing of another 787 in Japan.
Software glitch delays 660,000 tax refunds
WASHINGTON » The Internal Revenue Service says 660,000 taxpayers will have their refunds delayed by up to six weeks because of a problem with the software they used to file their tax returns.
The delay affects people claiming education tax credits who filed returns between Feb. 14 and 22.
H&R Block, the tax preparing giant, says some of its customers were affected but that the company has resolved the problem. A limited number of tax software companies also have had problems, but IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge declined to name them. Turbo Tax customers were not affected, spokeswoman Julie Miller said.
The IRS expects to process about 150 million tax returns from individuals, so less than 1 percent will be affected. About 6.6 million taxpayers are expected to claim the education tax credits.
The software problem was on Form 8863, which is used to claim the American Opportunity credit, which provides up to $2,500 to help pay for college expenses, and the Lifetime Learning credit, which provides up to $2,000.
U.S. jobless aid applications hit 5-year low
WASHINGTON » Fewer Americans sought unemployment aid last week, reducing the average number of weekly applications last month to a five-year low. The drop shows that fewer layoffs are strengthening the job market.
The Labor Department said Thursday that applications fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 332,000. That reduced the four-week average to 346,750, the lowest since the week of March 8, 2008, three months after the Great Recession began.
Feds to closely monitor student loan firms
WASHINGTON » The government’s consumer finance watchdog wants stricter oversight of companies that collect and log student loan payments.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed Thursday that it supervise the activities of nonbank student loan companies — a more stringent form of regulation than these companies have faced in the past. The bureau says the scrutiny is needed to ensure borrowers aren’t mistreated as the industry grows and more people fall behind on their payments.
JPMorgan CEO allegedly withheld data
JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s biggest bank, ignored internal controls and manipulated documents as it racked up trading losses last year, while its influential chief executive, Jamie Dimon, briefly withheld some information from regulators, a new Senate report says.
The findings by the congressional investigators shed new light on the multibillion-dollar trading blunder, which has claimed the jobs of several top executives and prompted an inquiry by the FBI. The 300-page report, released a day before a Senate subcommittee plans to question bank executives and regulators at a hearing, will escalate the debate over how to police complex risk-taking on Wall Street. It may also foreshadow a criminal case against employees at the heart of the troubled trade.
On the Move
Pyramid Insurance has hired Eufemio “JR” Longboy as an agent for its Lihue, Kauai, office. He has six years of experience in the insurance industry as well as 17 years of experience in sales with various companies.
Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced Glenda Nishizawa as Realtor associate for the firm’s Leeward office. She was previously a Realtor associate at Bob Vieira Realty and served in customer service in the banking industry.
Sales and Marketing Executives International Honolulu Chapter has announced that John C. Dean has been named Salesperson of the Year for 2012. Dean is president and chief executive officer of Central Pacific Bank.
Kahala Associates has promoted Chuck Garrett to chief operating officer from vice president and relocation director. Garrett, who joined Kahala Associates in 2007, has 24 years of real estate, technology and management experience. Garrett has also directed the implementation services group of RealPage in Dallas, and co-founded Antonsen Garrett & Associates in 1998.
