Mortgage Rate Lock advisory for New York or Florida Mortgages for Thursday, July 21, 2011

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 opened in negative territory again due to a strong opening in stocks. The stock markets were showing sizable gains with the Dow up 128 points and the Nasdaq up 24 points. The Labor Department said early this morning that 418,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week. This was higher than the 411,000 that was expected nice increase from the previous week. That would make this favorable news for the bond market and mortgage rates because it points towards employment sector weakness. However, since this data tracks only a single week’s worth of new claims, the impact it has on mortgage rates is usually fairly minimal unless it shows a sizable variance from forecasts. The 10,000 claim jump from the previous week and the 7,000 claims above forecasts should have helped boost bonds slightly, but the stock markets and earnings news appear to be taking center stage this morning. June's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) was posted at 10:00 AM this morning, revealing a 0.3% increase. This matched forecasts, making it neutral towards bond trading and mortgage rates. Today’s release did show a sizable downward revision (0.6%) to May’s reading, meaning that last month’s release actually showed a much slower pace of economic activity than previously announced. Unfortunately, since this report is only moderately important in the first place, the revision to May’s data has drawn little attention. There is nothing of relevance scheduled for release tomorrow. This makes it highly likely that we will see the stock markets have the biggest influence on bond trading and mortgage rates. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note currently has a yield of 2.97%, well above its lowest level after the surprising Employment report was posted almost two weeks ago. I am somewhat surprised we have not seen this move above 3.00% yet, but it is moving in that direction. Since mortgage rates tend to follow bond yields and not prices, the upward trend is negative for mortgage borrowers. As we inch closer to 3.00%, it will be interesting to see if it acts as a ceiling, meaning it will start to move lower again. Doing so would indicate lower mortgage rates may be in the immediate future. 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 New York State and Florida Banking Departments and our loans are arranged through third party providers.