O.C. is again a mortgage powerhouse
Jan. 17, 2016 Updated 8:55 a.m.
Back from the depths of the housing crash, Orange County is once again the mortgage mecca of America.
New quarterly federal jobs data show the county is the national employment leader in two key home-loan related categories:
? Local bosses at ?real estate credit? businesses ? private lenders, not banks or credit unions ? employed 9,599 people in June, just topping Dallas County, Texas, for the county with the most workers in this employment niche.
? Orange County had 4,793 workers classified as ?mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers? ? people who handle loans funded by third parties. That was nearly double the nation?s No. 2 county in this category, Los Angeles.
Orange County has long been a mortgage-making hub, and not always with great results.
Many modern loan-making techniques were pioneered here ? from lending to people with less-than-perfect credit to selling loans off in bundles to investors. Loan-making prowess can be seen at a host of independent mortgage companies as well as in sizable mortgage units of traditional banking institutions.
This history of lending innovation turned ugly a decade ago. High-risk mortgage-making practices, including tactics popular with several large Orange County-based lenders, helped create a housing bubble and subsequent collapse that devastated the real estate industry.
But as the housing market recovered in recent years, the local mortgage business rebounded, too.
Orange County real estate credit bosses grew their staffs by 71 percent in the past three years, far faster than 4 percent growth seen nationwide. Curiously, Dallas County has lost its crown as the top mortgage job market since 2012, as its real estate credit bosses cut staff 20 percent in three years.
The ranks of mortgage brokers in Orange County have grown 60 percent since 2012. Nationwide, broker employment is up 23 percent in the same period.
One way to gauge Orange County?s influence in home lending is to ponder its outsize share of mortgage workers.
The local real estate credit industry had roughly 4 percent of the 215,538 workers in this employment niche nationwide in the second quarter. Orange County had 5.5 percent of the nation?s 80,606 loan-broker workers.
That?s remarkable when you note that Orange County?s overall workforce is equal to roughly 1 percent of total U.S. employment.
A big lure to the mortgage game are paychecks far bigger than Orange County?s average weekly wages of $1,057 for all workers.
Orange County?s weekly pay for real estate credit workers was $2,087 in the second quarter. That?s 17 percent more than the $1,781 the same workers made nationwide. Local loan brokers averaged $2,093 a week in the second quarter ? 13 percent more than peers nationwide.
You might see this growth of mortgage-making riches and fear another mortgage-mania meltdown in the works. If so, take a deep breath.
Easy-money loans haven?t returned, at least not yet. Getting a mortgage remains challenging today, even for folks with good credit, due to tighter regulation and general bank skittishness. A mortgage availability index from the Urban Institute shows lenders taking two-thirds less risk last year compared with the go-go days of 2005-06.
As a result, while mortgage employment is up today, it?s nowhere near the levels of the pre-crash frenzy.
Orange County?s real estate credit companies employed 17,028 in 2005, real estate?s last pinnacle ? nearly double what it was four years earlier. Local loan brokers had 12,592 workers in 2005, quadruple the 2001 level.
Then came housing?s harsh reality check, a collapse that made mortgage lending scarce. Orange County?s total staffing in these two mortgage niches was slashed by by 22,707 workers through 2009 ? a nasty 77 percent drop.
Even with Orange County?s recent mortgage hiring spree, these two home-loan industries now employ roughly half the number of workers who made mortgages at the peak of housing stupidity.
That doesn?t mean there?s no reason for caution. Will higher mortgage rates and/or an erratic economy kill housing?s recovery, making today?s lending decisions look silly? Let?s hope local lenders learned some lessons from the last boom-and-bust cycle.
Contact the writer: jlansner@ocregister.com
Jan. 17, 2016 Updated 8:55 a.m.
Back from the depths of the housing crash, Orange County is once again the mortgage mecca of America.
New quarterly federal jobs data show the county is the national employment leader in two key home-loan related categories:
? Local bosses at ?real estate credit? businesses ? private lenders, not banks or credit unions ? employed 9,599 people in June, just topping Dallas County, Texas, for the county with the most workers in this employment niche.
? Orange County had 4,793 workers classified as ?mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers? ? people who handle loans funded by third parties. That was nearly double the nation?s No. 2 county in this category, Los Angeles.
Orange County has long been a mortgage-making hub, and not always with great results.
Many modern loan-making techniques were pioneered here ? from lending to people with less-than-perfect credit to selling loans off in bundles to investors. Loan-making prowess can be seen at a host of independent mortgage companies as well as in sizable mortgage units of traditional banking institutions.
This history of lending innovation turned ugly a decade ago. High-risk mortgage-making practices, including tactics popular with several large Orange County-based lenders, helped create a housing bubble and subsequent collapse that devastated the real estate industry.
But as the housing market recovered in recent years, the local mortgage business rebounded, too.
Orange County real estate credit bosses grew their staffs by 71 percent in the past three years, far faster than 4 percent growth seen nationwide. Curiously, Dallas County has lost its crown as the top mortgage job market since 2012, as its real estate credit bosses cut staff 20 percent in three years.
The ranks of mortgage brokers in Orange County have grown 60 percent since 2012. Nationwide, broker employment is up 23 percent in the same period.
One way to gauge Orange County?s influence in home lending is to ponder its outsize share of mortgage workers.
The local real estate credit industry had roughly 4 percent of the 215,538 workers in this employment niche nationwide in the second quarter. Orange County had 5.5 percent of the nation?s 80,606 loan-broker workers.
That?s remarkable when you note that Orange County?s overall workforce is equal to roughly 1 percent of total U.S. employment.
A big lure to the mortgage game are paychecks far bigger than Orange County?s average weekly wages of $1,057 for all workers.
Orange County?s weekly pay for real estate credit workers was $2,087 in the second quarter. That?s 17 percent more than the $1,781 the same workers made nationwide. Local loan brokers averaged $2,093 a week in the second quarter ? 13 percent more than peers nationwide.
You might see this growth of mortgage-making riches and fear another mortgage-mania meltdown in the works. If so, take a deep breath.
Easy-money loans haven?t returned, at least not yet. Getting a mortgage remains challenging today, even for folks with good credit, due to tighter regulation and general bank skittishness. A mortgage availability index from the Urban Institute shows lenders taking two-thirds less risk last year compared with the go-go days of 2005-06.
As a result, while mortgage employment is up today, it?s nowhere near the levels of the pre-crash frenzy.
Orange County?s real estate credit companies employed 17,028 in 2005, real estate?s last pinnacle ? nearly double what it was four years earlier. Local loan brokers had 12,592 workers in 2005, quadruple the 2001 level.
Then came housing?s harsh reality check, a collapse that made mortgage lending scarce. Orange County?s total staffing in these two mortgage niches was slashed by by 22,707 workers through 2009 ? a nasty 77 percent drop.
Even with Orange County?s recent mortgage hiring spree, these two home-loan industries now employ roughly half the number of workers who made mortgages at the peak of housing stupidity.
That doesn?t mean there?s no reason for caution. Will higher mortgage rates and/or an erratic economy kill housing?s recovery, making today?s lending decisions look silly? Let?s hope local lenders learned some lessons from the last boom-and-bust cycle.
Contact the writer: jlansner@ocregister.com