Low Rates Spur Hiring by Mortgage Industry

Historically low interest rates are driving a hiring boom in the mortgage industry, as lenders strive to contend with sharply increased demand brought on by historically low interest rates and other incentives.

Mortgage companies across the county are reporting that they are adding staff to cope with a flood of loan applications. The majority of the activity appears to be in refinancing but there is also demand for new home purchases as well, spurred by low home prices and incentives such as the $8,000 tax credit for new home buyers in 2009.

Bank of America CEO president Ken Lewis recently told reporters at a White House meeting that his company is hiring an additional 5,000 people to meet the increased demand. Smaller companies report that they are adding additional staff as well.

"We haven't been this busy probably in six years," said Bob Davis, a branch manager with First Mortgage Corp. in Ventura, Calif. told the Ventura County Star. "We have people lined up for a couple weeks in advance before we can talk to them.

Demand up all over

Demand appears to be up in nearly all parts of the country. In Florida, Jacksonville-based Everbank Financial Corp. reports that it is hiring 150-200 people in various positions to help cope with a 300 percent increase in mortgage applications since the first of the year. National lender Quicken Loans reports it has already added several hundred people this year and will conduct a Mortgage Banker Job Fair on April 8 at its offices in Livonia, Mich.

Massachusetts-based Mortgage Master Inc., which describes itself as one of the nation's largest privately-owned mortgage companies, reports that it has already hired more than 100 people to meet the demand. Company officials say they are handling from 70-75 mortgages a day, about 80 percent of them refinancings.

"Just out of control," Mortgage Master Chairman and CEO Leif Thomsen told CBS affiliate WBZ-TV in Boston. "We have people in here at like four in the morning and people in here past midnight."

2009 expected to be fourth-biggest for loans

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage servicer hiring had already rose seven percent in the second half of 2008. The MBA does not have official figures for 2009, but says it has had reports of an increased need for capacity, indicating a need to hire.

The MBA predicts that mortgage volume in 2009 will total $2.78 trillion, the fourth-highest on record. That number reflects $1.96 trillion in refinance and $821 million in home purchase loans.