3 Consecutive Quarters of Mortgage Employment Growth

DALLAS — (May 21, 2012) /PRNewswire/ Mortgage industry staffing has expanded each of the past three quarters, according to the First-Quarter 2012 Mortgage Employment Index from Mortgage Daily.

Hirings outpaced layoffs by 2,146 during the first three months of 2012.

Mortgage employment swung from a first-quarter 2011 net loss of more than 1,800 jobs.

The statistics were determined based on activity tracked by Mortgage Daily.

First-quarter layoffs jumped by nearly two thirds from the second quarter and were heavily impacted by MetLife Home Loans’ decision to shut down.

Hirings, meanwhile, slipped 3 percent from the prior period but more than doubled from a year earlier.

The biggest recruiters were JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Quicken Loans LLC — both which reported around a thousand hirings.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors reported a gain of roughly 660 jobs. The distressed-loan servicer has thrived during the foreclosure crisis as primary mortgage servicers have sought help resolving defaulted loans.

Fueled by hirings at ServiceLink, Pennsylvania saw the biggest gain in mortgage jobs: 720. Michigan was close behind thanks to a recruiting campaign by Quicken.

Robo-signing casualties left New York with the most mortgage-related job losses.

“Loan delinquency and foreclosures have recently been on the decline, which will likely lead to leaner staffs at mortgage servicers,” said Mortgage Daily Founder and Publisher Sam Garcia. “But the expansion of the Home Affordable Refinance Program is driving up refinance demand and the need for production staffing — especially in states with deeply underwater borrowers.”