Mortgage Industry Layoffs May Reverse By Year-End
Mortgage Industry Layoffs May Reverse By Year-End
09/06/2011 By: Krista Franks
After the mortgage industry lost more than 2,000 jobs in the first half of 2011, things may pick up throughout the end of the year, according to the recently released Second-Quarter 2011 Mortgage Employment Index by MortgageDaily.com.
During the second quarter of 2011, the mortgage industry lost about 500 positions after adding close to 5,000 jobs and decreasing by more than 5,000 positions.
The loss for the quarter is less than last quarter’s net job loss of 1,804.
However, in the same quarter last year, the industry was looking much more hopeful with an addition of 740 jobs.
The greatest loss occurred in California, where real estate finance positions declined by 1,078, far surpassing the
state with the second-greatest decline – Pennsylvania with 292 layoffs.
In contrast, Ohio experienced the greatest gain in mortgage industry jobs with 800 additional positions over the second quarter of 2011. With half the hirings – 400 – Kentucky ranked second for greatest number of jobs added in the second quarter.
Wells Fargo was the source of almost half of all layoffs for the quarter. The company closed its reverse mortgage division and decreased its fulfillment staff.
On the other hand, about half of the hirings throughout the second quarter took place at Chase.
Looking forward, MortgageDaily.com predicts a possible increase in hiring throughout the rest of the year as rates remain at record lows and loan performance remains low, leading to increasing numbers of refinance applications.
Hirings are more likely to occur at small- to mid-sized banks than at larger banks where layoffs have occurred during the first half of the year.
In its recent report, the U.S. Department of Labor recorded a total of 237,300 working real estate finance professionals during the month of July. The field has decreased from a revised 247,700 in July 2010.
The same report recorded the number of “mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers” rose from 48,600 in June to 49,000 in July, according to MortgageDaily.com.