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If you are looking for a Mortgage Professional who will give you the type of service that you deserve, contact Bob Amato (NMLS # 8632) and Empire Home Mortgage Inc. (NMLS # 44882). We answer our phones seven days a week until 9PM. Put us to the test! Our toll free number is (866) 742-5227.

 Visit our website, www.empirehomemortgageinc.com . There you can get answers to all of your financing questions, view rates and search for foreclosed properties.

 If you are considering locking in an interest rate for a New York mortgage or a Florida mortgage, read this post.

Friday’s bond market initially opened in negative territory, but it recovered a good part of those losses despite stock gains. The stock markets moved higher into the long weekend with the Dow up 62 points and the Nasdaq up 15 points. The bond market is currently down 2/32, but you may still see a small improvement in this morning’s mortgage pricing due to strength late yesterday.

Thursday's 7-year Note auction followed suit of Wednesday’s 5-year Note sale with a strong demand from investors. This helped boost bond prices during afternoon trading and caused many lenders to revise rates lower intra-day. Just how much of an improvement you will see in this morning’s rates depends on how much of an improvement was made yesterday. Friday's early losses should have erased approximately .250 of a discount point from yesterday’s rally. This means that this morning’s rates will likely be approximately .125 - .250 of a discount point better than yesterday’s morning pricing.

April's Personal Income and Outlays data was the first of today’s two relevant economic reports. It revealed increases of 0.4% in both the income and spending readings, indicating that consumers had more money to spend than last month and spent it. Both reading were close to forecasts, so the data has not had much of an influence on bond trading or mortgage this morning’s mortgage rates.

The second report of the day was the revision to the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment for May. It came in at 74.3, which was well above forecasts of 72.4. That means surveyed consumers were more optimistic about their own financial situations than many had thought. This is negative news for the bond market and mortgage rates because increasing confidence means consumers are more likely to make large purchases in the near future, fueling economic growth. Since bonds are more appealing to investors in weaker economic conditions, good news would have been a decline in consumer sentiment.

The bond market  closed at 2:00 PM ET today ahead of Monday's Memorial Day holiday. I believe that if there will be a revision to mortgage rates today, it will come around that time.  The stock and bond markets will reopen for regular trading Tuesday morning.

Next week is pretty active in terms of relevant economic reports scheduled for release. There is a fairly important report scheduled for late Tuesday morning (May’s Consumer Confidence Index) and a couple of highly important reports other days. We will be posting our weekly preview Sunday evening, but there will be no update Monday due to the holiday. Look for details on next week’s events in Sunday’s weekly preview. We also would like to take this opportunity to wish every a very happy and safe holiday weekend!

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.

 Empire Home Mortgage Inc. is a registered Mortgage Broker with the NYS and Florida Banking Depts and our loans are arranged through third party providers.

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