The Wall Street Journal
MARKETS
JPMorgan Chase Laying Off About 400 Mortgage Employees
Chase, one of the biggest home lenders, is cutting employees in Florida, Ohio, Arizona
JPMorgan Chase is planning layoffs in its mortgage division weeks after Wells Fargo announced its own mortgage cuts.
JPMorgan Chase is planning layoffs in its mortgage division weeks after Wells Fargo announced its own mortgage cuts.PHOTO: SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
By Emily Glazer
Updated Oct. 5, 2018 3:16 p.m. ET
JPMorgan Chase Columbus, Ohio; Phoenix and Cleveland particularly as mortgage servicing has fallen, the people said. The layoffs account for around 2% of that group.
Home sales have slowed as the rise in mortgage rates has been compounded by a lack of homes for sale, increasing prices and a tax bill that reduced some incentives for homeownership.
Rising interest rates have also discouraged homeowners from either refinancing their current mortgage or moving and having to get a new mortgage. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hit a seven-year high this past week.
JPMorgan has also found that customers’ delinquencies have fallen, dropping about 22% in August from the year prior, according to spokeswoman Trish Wexler. Mortgages that aren’t delinquent require fewer servicing resources.
“When fewer people are struggling with their mortgages, and more people are using self-service channels, we can adjust staffing,” the bank said in a statement Friday. “Like all companies, we are making improvements to operate more efficiently and make slight adjustments to resources to best meet the needs of the market.”
Ms. Wexler added that JPMorgan’s consumer home purchase application volume rose year-over-year in August and September.
Wells Fargo & Co., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said in August it is laying off about 650 mortgage employees who mainly work in retail fulfillment and mortgage servicing “to better align with current volumes.” In 2014, JPMorgan cut about 7,900 mortgage jobs.