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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.

Thursday’s bond market has opened in negative despite weaker than expected economic news. The stock markets are showing early gains with the Dow up 70 points and the Nasdaq up 31 points. The bond market is currently down 10/32, which will likely push this morning’s mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 of a discount point.

The Commerce Department gave us February's Durable Goods Orders this morning, announcing that new orders for big-ticket items fell 0.9% last month. This was much weaker than the 1.1% increase that was expected, indicating softness in the manufacturing sector. That makes the data favorable for the bond market and mortgage rates, but since this data is known to be volatile from month to month, the surprise reading hasn’t helped the bond market much. With the stock markets in positive ground, this data has taken backseat to stock trading.

The Labor Department announced that 382,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week. This was extremely close to forecasts, therefore has not had much of an influence on today’s mortgage pricing. The fact that the number of claims did not rise last can be considered bad news for the bond market because the total number filed remains under 400,000.

Tomorrow has two reports scheduled for release, but neither is considered to be highly important to the markets or mortgage pricing. The first is the final revision to the 4th Quarter GDP. This is the second and final revision to January's preliminary reading of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, or the sum of all goods and services produced in the U.S. It is expected to show that the economy grew at an annual pace of 2.9% last quarter, up slightly from the previous estimate of 2.8%. Analysts are now more concerned with next month's preliminary reading of the 1st quarter than data from three to six months ago, so I don't expect this report to affect mortgage rates much.

The final report of the week comes from the University of Michigan at 10:00 AM ET, who will revise their Consumer Sentiment Index for March. It will give us an indication of consumer confidence, which hints at consumers' willingness to spend. This is relevant because rising levels of confidence usually means consumers are more willing to make large purchases in the near future. That translates into fuel for economic growth. It is expected to show a very small decline from the preliminary reading of 68.2, meaning that surveyed consumers were slightly less optimistic about their own financial situations than previously thought. Favorable results for bonds and mortgage rates would be a large decline in confidence.

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... Lock 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 Fl Banking Depts and our loans are arranged through third party providers.

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