Nonbanks dominate in mortgage hiring

A new report looks at which state had the most mortgage layoffs, the most gains and what company had the most hires.

Mortgage industry staffing expanded during the fourth quarter of 2014, with non-bank lenders responsible for many of the hirings. Meanwhile, banks saw the biggest mortgage layoffs.

As of the end of last year, an estimated 577,800 people were employed in the mortgage industry, according to a Mortgage Daily analysis of Department of Labor data and origination market share data.

Mortgage staffing increased from an estimated 567,500 in the third quarter. But headcount tumbled from an estimated 650,600 at the end of 2013.

The fourth quarter total included approximately 228,200 mortgage jobs at banks. Credit unions employed 61,400, while non-bank mortgage employment was roughly 288,100.
Mortgage Daily tracked 6,651 mortgage layoffs and 2,952 mortgage hirings during the fourth-quarter 2014. Much of the hiring activity was at non-bank lenders and under the radar. Had the activity at the smaller firms been available -- there would likely have been a net gain in jobs reflected in the fourth quarter.

Data was accumulated through a combination of lender surveys, filings with state employment agencies and publicly reported data.

For all of last year, 28,337 total job losses were tracked, modestly fewer than the net outflow of 31,931 jobs in 2013.

The most job losses were tracked in Missouri. 

Biggest job losses by state
State Net
MO -779
CA -489
TX -289
SC -233
MD -170
 

Michigan saw the biggest gains of any state.

Biggest job gains by state
State Net
MI +610
WI +171
NJ +96
RI +45
IA +30

Big banks suffered the biggest mortgage job losses.

Biggest job losses by company
Company Net
Citi -2,000
Bank of America -1,816
Chase -1,500
Altisource -600
Digital Risk -150

Quicken was by far the biggest recruiter in the industry during the fourth quarter.

Biggest job gains by company
Company Net
Quicken 1,000
Guild Mortgage 375
Fairway Independent 341
Freedom Mortgage 240
PennyMac 200