US mortgage job losses topped 86,000 in 2007-study

[OhioChick]

Reuters Monday January 7 2008
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp, New Century Financial Corp and other mortgage lenders cut 86,071 jobs last year as the U.S. housing market deteriorated, data released Monday show.

California was hit hardest by the cuts, with a net loss of of 15,933 mortgage jobs, or 18.5 percent of the nationwide total, according to the data from MortgageDaily.com.
The state is home to Countrywide, which is based in Calabasas, as well as to New Century, an Irvine-based subprime mortgage lender that filed for bankruptcy protection in April.

Mortgage lenders have slashed staffing as losses have mounted from a surge in customer defaults. Falling housing prices and tighter credit markets have left thousands of homeowners unable to refinance their mortgages and stay in their homes.

Many mortgage experts expect further job losses in 2008 as rates on hundreds of thousands of adjustable-rate mortgages reset higher, though MortgageDaily.com publisher Sam Garcia expects the pace of layoffs to slow.

Countrywide made the most job cuts in 2007, eliminating a net 11,665 jobs, Dallas-based MortgageDaily.com said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7205342

[ananda]

1. But that's ok because we're NOT in a recession.

WE'RE NOT IN A RECESSION.

Bush said so.

[OhioChick]

2. ......

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...

[Doctor_J]

3. Maybe these people can get jobs that actually contribute something

instead of just handling other peoples' money

[flashl]

4. Posting at another site say ...

many of the laid-off mortgage brokers are now foreclosure specialist. A person could literally end up with the same puke that put them in financial jeopardy.