Mortgage sector suffers statewide layoffs

Despite a brighter economic and real estate outlook, lenders in Florida are reducing their workforce.

Rising interest rates have slowed refinancing activity to a trickle, the Palm Beach Post reported. When combined with skyrocketing home prices and falling unemployment –  in other words, fewer short sales, foreclosures and loan modifications – the mortgage industry isn’t left with much to do.

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“The servicing business in normal times – which we haven’t seen for a long time – is set up to open envelopes and deposit checks,” Inside Mortgage Finance publisher Guy Cecala told the Post.

The news isn’t all bad. Some workers at Maitland-based mortgage company Digital Risk are shifting to part-time instead of losing their jobs entirely. Still, up to 745 people are projected be laid off in April, bringing Florida’s total mortgage sector layoffs to more than 4,000 in 18 months. [Palm Beach Post] — Angela Hunt