It was obvious that lenders were going to become more stringent, in a classic knee-jerk fashion, and now it is happening. From Calculated Risk:
From O.C. Register: LendingTree lays off 20% of 2,200 workers
LendingTree … laid off 20 percent of its 2,200 workers nationwide today, the company said.
Rebecca Anderson, a spokeswoman for the company … said the company is getting more consumer interest, but less of that is being translated into loans funded. She said the subprime correction has now spread to all credit categories of loans.
The “more consumer interest” not translating into “loans funded” fits with the MBA Purchase Application Index no longer correlating with housing activity. It appears a growing percentage of loan applications are being denied.
