Mortgage rate climbs above 5%

WASHINGTON » Rates for 30-year home loans rose above the 5 percent threshold for the first time in three weeks but remained near historically low levels.

The average rate was 5.05 percent this week, up from 4.93 percent a week earlier, mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said yesterday.

Rates had dropped to a record low of 4.71 percent in December.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.4 percent, up from 4.33 percent last week.

10 billionth song sold by iTunes

NEW YORK » Apple's iTunes has sold its 10 billionth tune.

Apple said yesterday that its online music store crossed the threshold Wednesday when 71-year-old Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Ga., bought “;Guess Things Happen That Way”; by Johnny Cash.

iTunes had promoted the 10 billion mark and celebrated the milestone by giving Sulcer a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

Introduced in 2003, iTunes became the top overall music retailer in the U.S. in 2008.

Isle foreclosure case changes venue

The foreclosure lawsuit by Hawaii National Bank against Big Island developer Sunra Coffee LLC that sent it into bankruptcy has been moved from state court to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The bank is seeking approximately $9 million in the foreclosure action, citing default on loan payments.

Sunra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in August, listing assets and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million. Sunra's registered trade names for its Big Island projects include Royal Hualalai Gardens and Royal Kamehameha Gardens.

GoDaddy founder buys Cher's house

The Big Island house that entertainer Cher built but never lived in was purchased at auction by GoDaddy.com founder Bob Parsons, according to the Wall Street Journal online. GoDaddy.com is an online Web site registrar known for racy TV commercials.

Parsons paid $8.75 million in last month's auction for the home, at the Four Seasons Hualalai Resort. It includes a main house, a detached media room and four one-bedroom bungalows, an infinity-edge swimming pool and a Balinese design. Cher bought the 0.8-acre property in 2004 for $2.9 million and began building it in 2008.

Fed to look into pacts on Greek debt

WASHINGTON » Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers yesterday that the central bank is looking into the use by Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms of high-risk financial instruments to make bets that Greece would default on its debt.

Bernanke said the Fed is examining companies' use of credit default swaps, a form of insurance against bond defaults. He made the comments at the start of a Senate Banking Committee hearing. It marked the second day that the Fed chief has testified on Capitol Hill about the economy.

Ex-Kmart CEO told to pay millions

DETROIT » A judge ordered a former Kmart chief executive officer yesterday to pay more than $10 million for misleading investors before the retail chain filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002.

However, the judge denied an SEC request that would have prevented Charles Conaway from serving as an officer or director at another public company.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Conaway failed to tell investors that Kmart was delaying payments to suppliers to save cash, thereby masking the deteriorating financial health of the company.

ON THE MOVE

» Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu has named Roger Higa as fund development and marketing director. He will be responsible for the “;Bowl for Kids' Sake”; event in August. Higa has eight years' experience in the nonprofit arena, including as fund development director for Alzheimer's Association-Aloha Chapter, co-founder of Kalihi Education Coalition and founder of Hawaii Brain Aneurysm Foundation.

» American Savings Bank has donated $25,000 to the Hawaii Home Ownership Center. The contribution will support HHOC's homebuyer and counseling services to first-time homebuyers as well as its foreclosure prevention services.

» The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors has awarded Matthew Bittick, a Bishop Street Commercial managing partner, the SIOR certification. The SIOR designation represents the highest level of real estate industry knowledge, production and ethical standards, and in Hawaii there are six SIOR designees.

» Foodland Super Market and Western Union Foundation has donated $104,611.72 to American Red Cross. The donation is the result of Foodland's “;Help for Haiti”; program, which ran last month at all Foodland and Sack N Save stores statewide.