Mortgage companies trimmed 2,900 full-time employees from their payrolls in January, marking the third consecutive month in which employment in the mortgage banker/broker sector has declined.The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment in the mortgage industry declined from 500,700 in December to 497,800 in January. The decline in industry jobs occurred even though the 30-year mortgage rate hovered near 6.00% in January and refinancings constituted over 40% of mortgage applications. Since then, mortgage rates have gone up and the refi business has cooled. But the purchase-mortgage market has remained strong. Friday's employment report shows that construction jobs increased by 55,000 in January and 41,000 in February. "What housing slowdown, right?" asked Stephen Stanley, RBS Greenwich Capital's chief economist. "Home sales may be slowing down, but builders have plenty of orders in the pipeline to keep them busy for a long time."
-
Doxo plans to fight the FTC complaint, which focuses broadly on consumer finance, but there are signs of confusion about the company's role in mortgages too.
April 25 -
Members of the LGBTQ community were most likely to have experienced housing bias, according to a Zillow survey, which also found many people don't recognize how fair lending laws could help.
April 25 -
Senior executives making over $151,000 would still be subject to such clauses should the rule go into effect this year.
April 25 -
Christopher J. Gallo and his aide, Mehmet A. Elmas, allegedly withheld information in mortgage applications, hiding that borrowers were purchasing second home properties.
April 25 -
Mortgage rates rose 7 basis points this week, Freddie Mac said, and more increases are likely following a weaker than expected gross domestic product report.
April 25 -
Independent mortgage bankers lost the most money ever on every loan originated last year due to higher rates and lower volumes, an industry trade group said.
April 25