DALLAS, Feb. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A healthy quarterly expansion was recorded for employment in the residential lending industry. Faring best was the Golden State, though the Lone Star State also made impressive gains.
Staffing in real estate finance was an estimated 677,400 as of Sept. 30, 2016, according to an analysis conducted as part of the Mortgage Daily Third Quarter 2016 Mortgage Employment Index.
Estimated industry headcount expanded from three months earlier, when the total came to 665,600. The increase was far more significant versus a year earlier, when the number was 650,100.
More recently, mortgage staffing has climbed to an estimated 697,700 as of Dec. 31, 2016.
The third-quarter 2016 estimated total consisted of 292,900 home-lending jobs at banks, 59,900 mortgage jobs at credit unions and 324,600 people working for non-bank mortgage bankers.
| Estimated Mortgage Staffing by Quarter | |||
| Type | Q3 2016 | Q2 2016 | Q3 2015 |
| Banks | 292,900 | 289,800 | 283,900 |
| Credit Unions | 59,900 | 59,900 | 59,900 |
| Non-Banks | 324,600 | 316,000 | 306,400 |
| Total | 677,400 | 665,600 | 650,100 |
Within the mortgage industry, Mortgage Daily tracked 2,198 layoffs during the period that started on July 1, 2016, and finished on Sept. 30, 2016. In addition, 4,883 hirings were also tracked.
That put the Mortgage Employment Index at a positive 2,685 jobs during the third quarter, a bigger net gain than 1,812 in the second quarter. The net gain swung from a 921 job loss in the third-quarter 2015.
With nearly 600 more hirings tracked than layoffs, California fared best for net jobs gains in the third-quarter 2016. Close behind was Texas.
| Biggest Job Gains by State | |
| State | Net |
| California | +584 |
| Texas | +544 |
| New Jersey | +224 |
| Wisconsin | +198 |
| Illinois | +130 |
In Florida, the net loss for mortgage jobs tracked by Mortgage Daily was 368 -- a bigger decline than in any other state.
Oregon was a distant second with a drop of more than a hundred.
| Biggest Job Losses by State | |
| State | Net |
| Florida | -368 |
| Oregon | -102 |
| Georgia | -97 |
| Michigan | -84 |
| Iowa | -19 |
Caliber Home Loans Inc. had 725 more hirings than layoffs tracked during the latest three-month period, giving the Irving, Texas-based company a bigger gain than any other firm tracked by Mortgage Daily during the third quarter of last year.
With more than 400 mortgage job gains, Freedom Mortgage Corp. and Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. were second and third, respectively.
| Biggest Job Gains by Company | |
| Company | Net |
| Caliber Home Loans | +725 |
| Freedom Mortgage | +447 |
| Fairway | +423 |
| Nationstar Mortgage LLC | +300 |
| New American Funding | +300 |
| PennyMac Financial Services Inc. | +300 |
At Walter Investment Management Corp. and its subsidiaries, layoffs tracked during the third-quarter 2016 exceeded hirings by 600 positions, giving the Tampa, Florida-based firm the biggest quarterly loss in mortgage staffing.
In the second spot, with half as many layoffs as Walter, was Ocwen Financial Corp.
| Biggest Job Losses by Company | |
| Company | Net |
| Walter Investment | -600 |
| Ocwen | -299 |
| Home Retention Services Inc. | -255 |
| Bank of America Corp. | -241 |
| OneMain Financial | -116 |
Full Q3 2016 report is available to subscribers:
www.MortgageDaily.com/stories/MortgageEmploymentIndex020617.asp?spcode=pr
Historical Mortgage Employment Index data is at:
http://www.mortgagedaily.com/MortgageEmploymentIndex.asp?spcode=pr
Mortgage employment news:
http://www.mortgagedaily.com/MortgageEmployment.asp?spcode=pr
About Mortgage Daily
Founded in 1998 by 20-year mortgage industry veteran Sam Garcia, Mortgage Daily is a leading online source of mortgage news and mortgage statistics. Mortgage Daily also publishes the Mortgage Market Index and a ranking of the biggest lenders. Visit Mortgage Daily at www.MortgageDaily.com.
Source: Mortgage Daily