Mortgage applications surge
U.S. mortgage applications rose by the most since January as filings for home purchases surged to a record and more people refinanced. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of mortgage applications increased to 781 in the week that ended May 6 from 714.1 a week earlier. An improving labor market, wage growth and the prospect of higher borrowing costs have helped power housing demand this year, economists said.
Sales of vacation homes hit high
Last year, vacation-home sales in the United States rose almost 20 percent, passing 1 million for the first time, the National Association of Realtors said. Although the traditional second home, a cabin on a lake or at the base of a ski slope, meant trading society for solitude, that’s often no longer the case. Towns like Ashland, Ore., with a population of 20,000 and a lively business district full of restaurants, shops and art galleries, all set near the confluence of three mountain ranges in the southwestern part of Oregon, attract former city dwellers who want their chance at the quiet life without giving up access to galleries, restaurants and the theater, said John Villani, whose book, “The 100 Best Art Towns in America,” lists Ashland as No. 2 among towns under 30,000.
Hindery selling ranch
Veteran cable-TV executive Leo Hindery Jr. is putting his Colorado ranch on the market for $13.7 million. The 1,400-acre Lazy H Ranch is in Larkspur, 38 miles south of Denver. Hindery, 57, resigned in April 2004 as chief executive of Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network, the New York regional sports channel majority-owned by the baseball team. A former chief executive of Global Crossing Ltd., Hindery is now a managing partner at InterMedia Partners, a New York-based private equity firm specializing in media investments. The ranch comes with a five-bedroom, eight-bath main house that measures 17,000 square feet. A two-story indoor horse arena, a 16-stall barn and two guest homes are also on the property. Ron Morris of Ranch Marketing Associates in Denver has the listing.
Mortgage rates inch up after 5 weeks of falling
National rates on 30-year mortgages, after falling for five straight weeks, edged up a bit last week, reflecting in part indications that the recent economic slowdown would be short-lived. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its weekly survey that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.77 percent, up from 5.75 percent the week before. Below are average mortgage rates in Denver, Adams and Arapahoe counties as of Thursday and the previous 52 weeks. The one-year Treasury bill average reported by the Federal Reserve Bank is 3.33 percent. The Cost of Funds Index for March from the Federal Home Loan Bank (11th District) was 2.4 percent.
