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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.

 January's Industrial Production data was released this morning, revealing no change from December’s revised level. This data tracks output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities, giving us a measurement of manufacturing sector strength. It was expected to show a 0.6% increase, meaning the manufacturing sector may not have been as strong last month as many had thought. This is good news for the bond market and mortgage because it points towards weaker economic conditions. However, since this particular report is considered to be only moderately important, its impact on today’s pricing has been fairly minimal.

 Tomorrow has three pieces of economic data scheduled, but one stands out above the other two. The first bit of news is the weekly unemployment update from the Labor Department at 8:30 AM ET. They are expected to announce that 365,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, up 7,000. Since this tracks only a single week’s worth of initial claims for benefits, it usually does not have a significant impact on the markets or mortgage rates unless it shows a wide variance from forecasts.

 January's Housing Starts will also be posted early tomorrow morning, giving us an indication of housing sector strength and mortgage credit demand. It also does not affect mortgage rates much unless the results vary greatly from forecasts. Current forecasts are calling for an increase in starts of new housing.

 The big news will come from the Labor Department, who will post their Producer Price Index (PPI) for January at 8:30 AM. It measures inflationary pressures at the producer level of the economy and is considered to be one the two key measures of inflation we see each month. There are two portions of the report that analysts watch, the overall reading and the core data reading. The core data is more important to market participants because it excludes more volatile food and energy prices. It is expected to show an increase of 0.3% in the overall reading and a 0.2% rise in the core data. Good news for bonds would be a decline in both readings, particularly the core data as it would ease concerns about inflation that make long-term securities less attractive to investors.

 If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float 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 New York and Florida State Banking Departments and our loans are arranged through third party providers. http://activerain.com/images/linking/ARLogoProfile.gif