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Mortgage Rate Lock advisory for New York or Florida Mortgages for Wednesday, April 13, 2011

By
Mortgage and Lending with Bob Amato of Empire Home Mortgage Inc

 

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.

 Wednesday’s bond market has opened down slightly following the release of mixed economic data and small gains in stocks during early trading. The Dow is currently up 28 points while the Nasdaq has gained 8 points. The bond market is currently down 3/32, but we will likely still see a slight improvement in this morning’s mortgage pricing due to strength in bonds late yesterday.

The Commerce Department posted this morning’s key economic data with the release of March's Retail Sales report. They announced an increase of 0.4% in retail level sales last month. This was slightly lower than expectations, but a secondary reading that measures spending without volatile auto sales included rose a bit more than analysts had expected. This made the data neutral towards the bond market and mortgage rates.

Later today, the Federal Reserve will post their Fed Beige Book report. This report is named simply after the color of its cover and details economic conditions throughout the U.S. by region and will be posted at 2:00 PM ET. Since the Fed relies heavily on the contents of this report during their FOMC meetings, its results can have a fairly big impact on the financial markets and mortgage rates if it reveals any significant surprises. Generally speaking, signs of strong economic growth or inflation rising would be considered negative for bonds and mortgage rates. Slowing economic conditions with little sign of inflationary pressures would be considered favorable for bonds and mortgage pricing.

The first of two Treasury auctions that may influence mortgage rates is taking place today also. 10-year Treasury Notes are being auctioned today while 30-year Bonds will go to sale tomorrow. Results of the auctions will be posted at 1:00 PM ET each day. If the demand from investors was strong, the bond market could rally during afternoon trading, leading to lower mortgage rates. If today’s sale was met with a poor demand, the afternoon weakness may cause upward revisions to mortgage pricing.

Tomorrow morning brings us the release of March's Producer Price Index (PPI) at 8:30 AM ET. This Labor Department report will give us an important measurement of inflationary pressures at the producer level of the economy. 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. If it shows rapidly rising prices, inflation fears may hurt bond prices since it erodes the value of a bond's future fixed interest payments, leading to higher mortgage rates. A slight increase, or better yet a decline in prices, would be good news for the bond market and mortgage rates. Current forecasts are calling for a 1.1% increase in the overall reading and a 0.2% rise in the core data.

Also tomorrow is the weekly release of unemployment figures. The Labor Department is expected to say that 385,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, up slightly from the previous week. Because this report tracks only a single week’s worth of new claims, it usually does not influence mortgage rates unless it reveals a much smaller or large number of claims than what was expected. It will give us a small snapshot of the employment sector, but only a week’s worth of data usually does not have much of an impact on the financial or mortgage markets.

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

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