Wells Fargo axes 700 mortgage employees

Once again, a big bank is giving mortgage employees the ax. Wells Fargo has announced that it’s cutting 700 mortgage employees as demand for home loans continues to shrink

Once again, a big bank is giving mortgage employees the ax. Wells Fargo has announced that it’s cutting 700 mortgage employees as demand for home loans continues to shrink.

That’s on top of 250 cuts already made in January, and further reductions are possible as the year goes on, according to a Bloomberg report.

Wells Fargo spokesman Tom Goyda told Bloomberg that the cuts came as a result of shrinking demand for mortgages.

“We saw some significant declines in mortgage originations in the last half of 2013 and we expect to see a continued decline at this point in the first quarter,” Goyda said.

Wells Fargo’s income from mortgage banking shrank by nearly half between the fourth quarter of 2012 and Q4 of 2013, according to Bloomberg. Mortgage applications fell by 25% at the company between the third and fourth quarters.

The cuts come as many major lenders announce similar reductions. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Nationstar and PHH have all announced significant cuts to their mortgage units in recent weeks.

Wells Fargo cut 6,000 mortgage jobs last year, Bloomberg reported.