| Things Still Looking Good in Mortgageland
Employment continues to swell April 4, 2003 By MortgageDaily.com staff |
| Driven by record U.S. mortgage production, employment in the mortgage industry continues to grow.
The seasonally adjusted number of people working for or as a mortgage banker or mortgage broker during March reached 426,000, an increase of about 3,000 from February. A year ago, employment in the real estate finance industry was at 357,000. The employment report was released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is part of the U.S. Department of Labor. Growth in mortgage employment is largely because of a tidal wave of refinances resulting from record low rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America’s refinance index reach 9387.0 last month — its highest level ever. Rates bottomed out about the same time; according to Freddie Mac, the week before the refinance index topped out, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell to 5.61%, its lowest point in decades. Overall U.S. unemployment was 5.8 percent — unchanged from the prior month. |
