Nonbank mortgage lenders and brokers added 900 new employees to their payrolls in March after cutting 2,100 in the month prior.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that employment in the nonbank mortgage sector rose slightly to 297,800 in March compared to February. The
March was not a particularly good month. "Refinancing applications fell during the whole month as interest rates inched up," according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's March forecast commentary. And the MBA's weekly mortgage applications survey was basically flat in March despite a 2.7% increase in the final week.
Meanwhile, "sales of new single-family homes declined every month in the first quarter of 2016," according to Frank Shaw in Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group.
Freddie Mac purchased $69 billion in single-family loans from lenders in the first quarter, down $7 billion from 4Q 2015. The government sponsored enterprises chalked it off to a "seasonal slowdown in home purchase activity."
Fannie Mae economists are forecasting total mortgage originations will jump to $444 billion in the second quarter, up from $331 billion in first quarter, as home buying picks up.
Meanwhile, the BLS reported Friday that the U.S. economy created 160,000 jobs in April, which is below most forecasts and down from 208,000 in March. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5%. There is a one-month lag in BLS reporting of industry jobs data.
The disappointing jobs number may give Federal Reserve Board chairman Janet Yellen a reason not to hike interest rates in June, according to Scott Anderson, chief economist at the Bank of the West.
"While we have been forecasting a slowdown in job growth this year, the pace of slowing in April job growth is a bit more abrupt than we expected and a cautious approach to U.S. monetary policy normalization appears appropriate until we see more convincing evidence of reacceleration in the U.S. and global economy," Anderson said in note Friday morning.
Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan essentially agrees with Anderson. "While the [April jobs] report may or may not be the start of a weakening trend in the labor market, it supports our expectation that the Fed will not hike in June," Duncan said.
