Consolidation, Lay-offs Hit U.S. Mortgage Industry

Published on:
12 September 2006 at 10:20 a.m. ET

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http://www.insidearm.com/news/00000780-consolidation-lay-offs-hit-us-mortgage-in/

By Julie Haviv, Reuters

A major transition is underway in the U.S. mortgage lending industry, with consolidations and lay-offs at the forefront as companies try to deal with waning demand for home loans.

This shift is expected to pick up steam in 2006 if the housing market, as widely expected, cools off from its record-breaking five-year run.

“There are some very important signals emerging in that we have seen some pretty good companies go on the block for sale or have been sold recently, which is a clear sign that consolidation is seriously underway,” said Douglas Duncan, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, an industry trade group.

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