Real estate companies start laying off employees amid low demand

Major layoffs are coming to some of the nation’s largest real estate companies.

Redfin and Compass, two of the country’s biggest real estate brokers, say they’re cutting their workforce by eight percent and 10 percent – which is more than 500 employees.

They say the demand to buy homes have been low recently.

“We’re losing many good people today, but in order for the rest to want to stay, we have to increase Redfin’s value,” Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman wrote in an email Tuesday to employees. “We owe it to everyone who has invested your time or treasure in this company to become profitable, and then very profitable.”

Rising interest rates on mortgages has caused the prices of homes to skyrocket, turning away many potential buyers.

Experts say home sales have been declining for several months already and it’s expected to worsen in the coming months.

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The demand for mortgages is currently at its lowest level in more than two decades.