There are mortgage brokers all over the country exclude people months ago, and the Capital was not spared.
Fewer home sales and reduced demand for refinancing—spurred in large part by higher interest rates—have spurred the decrease.
Baton Rouge-based GMFS Mortgage has hired more than 100 additional people to handle strong demand in 2020 and 2021, CEO Tee Brown said. But it had to lay off about 120 people last year, he said, bringing the workforce back to the same level as in 2018.
The company’s earnings show why. According to Brown, GMFS did about $2.3 billion worth of business last year, compared to about $4 billion in the previous two years. He predicted about $2 billion this year and expects the refinancing to slow.
Area Home Lending in Baton Rouge laid off about half its staff, CEO Jason Guerin said.
“We did less than half the volume in 2022 than in 2021,” he said.
However, Guerin is seeing an increase in business at the beginning of this year, which he showed to people that they can not delay the move even if they are not interested in buying now. Consumers are beginning to make concessions to consumers, and if the Federal Reserve reverses course on its interest rates, there could be a big increase in refinancing in 2024, he said. add this.
Wells Fargo, Freedom Mortgage, Prosperity Home Mortgages and the mortgage division of Citizens Bank are some of the largest lenders announce the suspension during the fourth quarter.