Lack of Jobs May Keep Housing in U.S. Depressed

Pat Lashinsky knows what’s preventing his U.S. real-estate brokerage firm from attracting more customers. He also knows there is little he can personally do to make it right.

“There’s a mindset of fear of losing employment,” Lashinsky, chief executive officer of Emeryville, California-based ZipRealty Inc., said in an interview yesterday. Housing “is not in a very good position right now.”