Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, September 18, 1997
WASHINGTON -- Average interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell sharply this week to the lowest level in seven weeks, according to a national survey released today by Freddie Mac. 30-year mortgages
fall sharply to 7.38%The decline to 7.38 percent from 7.53 percent brought the average to the lowest level since the week ended July 31. Then, it was 7.36 percent and the lowest in 17 months.
Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 6.94 percent this week, also the lowest in seven weeks and down from 7.07 percent a week earlier. On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.53 percent this week, down from 5.59 percent last week.
GMAC Mortgage Corp. will provide the financing for homes being provided under the Alii Affordable Housing Foundation's program to sell homes to island residents at affordable prices. GMAC to finance
affordable isle homesMortgages Etc. in Aiea will make the loans, using GMAC funds. The program, called "Housing for Hawaiians '98," has more than 2,000 customers, Alii Affordable Housing said. Those who qualify will get houses manufactured on the mainland to federal standards and shipped to the islands. Alii has offices in Waianae and on Kauai and the Big Island.
Japan Airlines has launched a major advertising campaign to attract more visitors to Hawaii and get more passengers on its 69 weekly flights to the islands. Japan Air makes pitch
for Hawaii tourismJAL's regional sales manager in Hawaii, Gilbert Kimura, said it's an attempt to revitalize the airlines' tourist traffic which has been slipping in the face of Japan's flat economy. He also noted that Hawaii is facing increased competition from other destinations trying to attract the Japan visitors.
JAL's weekly newsletter said the campaign, launched Sept. 6, will run through Sunday and features 1,000 television commercials. Half are in the key markets of Tokyo and Osaka with the rest split up in Sapporo, Sendai, Nagoya, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, all cities served with flights to Honolulu. The JAL campaign targets young women in the 20 to 30 age bracket and family travelers.
NEW YORK -- Coopers & Lybrand LLP and Price Waterhouse said they plan to merge to create the world's largest accounting and consulting firm. Top accounting firms
plan huge mergerThe combination would vault Price Waterhouse and Coopers ahead of industry leader Arthur Andersen Worldwide, and second-ranked Ernst & Young, and whittle the so-called Big Six accounting firms down to five.
The merger comes amid consolidation in the financial services industry worldwide and is the first to affect the accounting and consulting industry since the end of the 1980s.
Coopers Chairman Nicholas Moore will be chairman of the merged firm. James Schiro, chief executive of Price Waterhouse, will be chief executive. The companies haven't yet decided on a name, but analysts said they expect that Price Waterhouse will be the lead name, Bloomberg News reported.