Tag Archives: Jobs

Caldwell Partners released a new white paper addressing a crucial issue in the mortgage industry: the lack of knowledgeable leaders able to manage their business' new needs.

Rising interest rates brought down mortgage activity last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

After dipping into negative territory last month, consumer sentiment inched up in March, according to the Consumer Reports Index. The index's sentiment measure improved to 50.7 in March from a reading of 48.9 in February. The greatest improvement among income brackets was seen in lower-income households earning less than $50,000--that index climbed 3.7 points. Besides sentiment, the index report tracks consumer responses on four other key measures: financial troubles, stress, retail activity, and employment.

Capacity limits may be playing a significant role in keeping first-time homebuyers out of the credit market, according to Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke. As the ratio of refinance applications to the number of real estate credit employees rises, loans are taking longer to process as the procedure becomes more thorough. Adding to that, Duke said, is the problem that real estate credit employment has risen relatively slowly in response. As a result, borrowers with hard-to-complete loans or low credit scores have been crowded out.

According to the Flow of Funds report for Q4 2012, household assets grew to $79.5 trillion in the fourth quarter, an increase of $1.3 trillion--not too shabby. Household financial assets were up $784 billion to $54.4 billion but home equity (the value of household real estate less loans against that real estate) grew $452.8 billion, the result of two moving parts: real estate values (which increased) and household mortgage liabilities, which dropped. Once the dust settled, it meant equity in household real estate assets moved to 46.6 percent in the Q4.

The economy added 236,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate slipped to 7.7 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 160,000 and that the unemployment rate would remain at 7.8 percent.

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey indicated little to no movement in fixed rates for the week ending March 7. According to Freddie Mac's readings, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.52 percent (0.7 point) this week, up slightly from the previous 3.51 percent average. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.88 percent. Meanwhile, Bankrate.com reported no movement in any of its three major metrics, with all of them reading the same as last week.

Initial unemployment insurance claims fell 7,000 for the week ending March 2, closing the week at an advance estimate of 340,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The decline represents the fourth drop in the last five weeks, indicating a downward trend in layoffs.

Employment in the mortgage industry reached a post-crisis high in 2012, according to data from Mortgage Daily's Mortgage Employment Index. The index showed a gain of 2,571 jobs during last year's fourth quarter, making it the sixth straight quarter to post an increase. However, job growth wasn't as strong as the third quarter, which saw 2,926 mortgage jobs created. For the entire year, the mortgage industry gained 8,978 new jobs, more than twice what was gained in 2011 (4,320).

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 22,000 to 344,000 for the week ending February 23, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Meanwhile, the number of continuing claims fell to the lowest level in almost five years.