Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, December 31, 1998
30-year mortgages end year at 6.83%
WASHINGTON -- The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose this week to 6.83 percent, up from 6.77 percent last week and the highest since mid-November, mortgage company Freddie Mac said today.The average reached a 31-year low of 6.49 percent in early October. It has remained below 7 percent since mid-June. It peaked for the year at 7.22 percent in late April.
Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 6.48 percent this week, up from 6.41 percent. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.63 percent, the highest since July and up from 5.58 percent.
AOL membership passes 15 million
DULLES, Va. -- America Online Inc. said its worldwide membership passed 15 million as the No. 1 online service attracted new members at a record rate because of a marketing campaign for its upgraded software.America Online, based in Dulles, Va., added 1 million new members in seven weeks. The company said that on Christmas Day, it added more new members than on any other day in the company's history. America Online has been distributing millions of copies of its version 4.0 software in places ranging from gas stations to school cafeterias and is running television and radio advertisements. The service is also featured in Time Warner Inc.'s movie "You've Got Mail."
In other news . . .
BETHESDA, Md. -- Host Marriott Corp. said it completed its plan to convert to a real-estate investment trust and closed its purchase of a $1.2 billion luxury-hotel portfolio from the Blackstone Group.
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