(Reuters) – U.S. mortgage lenders, refinancing companies and real-estate brokers may lay off thousands of employees in the coming months, industry sources said, as many Americans put off buying a home.

Low interest rates, stimulus payments and working from home during the coronavirus pandemic had prompted many millennials to hunt for new homes, fuelling a red-hot U.S. housing market.

But the market is now cooling amid economic uncertainty resulting from the Ukraine conflict and a jump in mortgage rates as the Federal Reserve raises the cost of borrowing.

“We’re seeing a reduction in buyer interest because of the cost of buying home and that’s due to both the run up in interest rates as well as the ongoing high cost of actually building a home,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders.

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