NAHB Cuts 52 Positions, MBA Losing Members

The National Association of Home Builders has trimmed 52 positions from its workforce as the housing and mortgage crisis shows no signs of abating any time soon. Of the 52 jobs eliminated, roughly half were vacant. A spokeswoman for NAHB declined to provide any details about the layoffs or its membership ranks. She would only say that NAHB has 235,000 "membership companies" as of December and offered no comparisons to the same month a year ago. Last month, the trade group's chief economist David Seiders retired. Meanwhile, industry executives are saying the Mortgage Bankers Association is losing many members. According to a report in The Washington Post, MBA has lost roughly 500 members over the past year, noting that membership stands at 2,550. At press time, MBA's spokeswoman had not returned a telephone call about the matter.