Home show opens today; includes classes, projects

The Spokane Home Builders Association’s Premier Home Improvement Show will run today through Sunday at County Fair and Expo Center, 404 N. Havana.

Spokane Home Builders Association will donate a portion of proceeds to the Wishing Star Foundation, an organization that grants wishes for children with life threatening illnesses.

Exhibitors will give demonstrations and offer classes in home projects and installations.

Tickets are $7 for adults; children 12 and under are free.

Hours today are noon to 8 p.m. On Saturday the event runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Washington

30-year mortgages drop; refinancing booming

Rates on 30-year mortgages dipped this week after rising a week earlier, and remain just above record lows.

Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.82 percent this week, down from an average of 4.87 percent last week.

Rates have been below 5 percent for five consecutive weeks.

The all-time low of 4.78 percent was recorded the week of April 2. Freddie Mac’s survey dates back to 1971.

Low rates have sparked a surge in refinancing activity, with nearly 80 percent of new home loan applications coming from borrowers seeking to refinance. Freddie Mac’s sibling company, Fannie Mae, refinanced $77 billion in loans last month, nearly double February’s level and the best month for such activity since 2003, when the housing market was still surging.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.48 percent this week from 4.54 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Los Angeles

Farmers Insurance to buy AIG subsidiary

Farmers Insurance Group said Thursday that it was acquiring another Southern California auto insurer, 21st Century Insurance, for $1.9 billion in a deal with troubled American International Group.

The sale, if approved by state regulators, would make Farmers the third-largest U.S. auto and homeowners insurer. Farmers, a unit of Zurich Financial Services in Switzerland, expects to complete the acquisition by the end of September.

The deal also would give Farmers a major opportunity to market directly to customers via the Internet and the telephone, said Robert Woudstra, Farmers’ chief executive officer.

Analysts said the 21st Century deal and other recent acquisitions were positive signs that AIG would have success selling some of its other subsidiaries, including International Lease Finance Corp., the Los Angeles aircraft leasing company.

AIG has been reeling from risky investments that pushed it into the government’s arms last fall. It has received $182.5 billion in federal aid commitments, the largest single bailout of financial companies.

From staff and wire reports