Housing Slump Threatens Jobs
The economy's growth has never before been so driven by real estate. Now that engine is sputtering
Tightening. That process is already underway in other housing-related jobs, such as mortgage lending, title services, and appraisals. With the refinancing boom played out and mortgage applications near a four-year low, lenders like Washington Mutual have recently laid off thousands of workers, while some smaller operations have shut down completely. "It was quick, easy money, but then rates go up and it's over," says mortgage trainer Christopher Cruise, who recently visited one mortgage lending operation in Rockville, Md., that let all 71 of its loan officers go. "At the peak, all you needed was a voice and a telephone, and you were pretty much guaranteed six figures. But now you've got to suck it up, and some folks would rather just go lay on the beach and wait around for the next refi boom."
That's certainly not the case with workers at Bruce Williams Homes in Bradenton, Fla., which recently downsized its ranks by 25 workers, about a quarter of the total staff. "We helped find jobs for everyone we let go," construction vice president Tom McTigue says of the workers he steered into jobs with other builders. "It's not like everything has suddenly come to a grinding halt."
At least so far, the downturn has forced more of a belt tightening than a full-blown bust at his company. "We've cleaned out our backlog, and we're still building," he says, "just not like we were a year ago."
Others note that with commercial construction still booming in places like San Diego, workers with transferable skills are having little trouble finding work. "We've had a big slowdown in condo development but a huge increase in hotel construction," notes University of San Diego economist Alan Gin. "So far, the two are canceling each other out, but it's hard to say how long that will last."
For his part, Massad is trying to adjust his clientele, too. The founder of FloridaRealtyFinder.com had specialized in helping investors buy preconstruction condos. But with investors all but vanished from the Miami condo market, he has recently taken to walking his neighborhood to drum up residential sales. "A lot of other agents don't want to work that hard," he says. "But in six or nine months, they'll be out of business, and that'll just be less competition for me."
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