I'm back from a week in the woods at Central Manor Campmeeting - great time for the whole family (even without air conditioning).
First thing I saw today was an article by Jim Hagerty of the WSJ (who has done an article with quotes from me in the past). He was writing today about a significant layoff announced by Countrywide Financial Corp.
Apparently the 61,000-employee mortgage giant intends target it's "alt A" division, entitled Full Spectrum Lending, with the bulk of the layoffs. That would be about 6,800 salespeople, out of a total of 18,000 company-wide. This comes after a supposed series of strategic meetings held two weeks ago which I posted about at that time.
With the recent spurt of troubles in the mortage lending industry, it's inevitable that even the biggest firms will have to trim costs and cut services to weather the downturn in the secondary mortgage securities market. Countrywide announced last Thursday that it borrowed a line of credit totaling over $11 billion from 40 banks, while it's stock struggled to rally from a drop in recent weeks. We'll keep an eye on the ever-changing market right here at LancasterCountyBlog.com, so check back often.
Jeff, Great post. We need to keep the consumers informed. People all over the country are panicking.
Jeff - Thanks for the update on Countrywide. Do you see this happening with any other banks in the near future? I've been telling buyers that it is more important than ever to use a broker and not a bank because of their ability to find new programs when banks discontinue programs without notice. Good post.
By the way, how did you add that cool graphic to subscribe to your blog (which I have already)?
A good Post Jeff and one that bears watching. The fallout in people losing jobs, Over and above the numbers in the real estate business and loss of revenue. it will have to have a great impact on the tax revenues as well. the loss of income over all is going to be totally devastating to our economy, though it will be a while yet before it is felt.