Roughly 4,100 people have registered to attend the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association, which launches Sunday night in Power City USA.
Mortgage lenders far and wide have been laying off full-time staffers by the thousands over the past month as the industry adjusts to both lower originations and a lighter workload tied to the servicing of problem loans. The latest casualties include Wells Fargo, which recently announced plans to cut an additional 925 mortgage “team members” across the U.S.; SunTrust (800 positions); Mortgage Investors Corp. (500); and CashCall (486). Wells cut 5,300 mortgage workers in the third quarter alone, but that figure does not include the latest bloodletting. JPMorgan Chase estimates by the time 2013 ends it will have cut 11,000 mortgage-related jobs. Moreover, according to officials at executive search firms, now mortgage vendors are...
Marc Savitt, president of National Association of Independent Housing Professionals, a broker/appraiser trade group, noted that the short-term outlook for the sector looks difficult.
At least two young mortgage insurance firms hope to go public by yearend. But how might the market receive these deals with so much uncertainty surrounding the GSEs?
One mortgage recruiter noted that job losses in somewhat rural communities can be a big problem for workers. “Sometimes they’re the largest employer in town and there’s nowhere else to go,” he said.
Still, one industry lobbyist warns that with Cory Booker’s election to the Senate, the White House may be willing to exert more influence to advance Mel Watt’s nomination to head the FHFA.
However, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, the U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian-owned bank doesn’t even rank among the top 30 lenders, at least not yet.
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