Redfin lays off 862 employees as housing market cools

The layoff bug that's hammering major tech companies is also infecting the real estate industry with Redfin announcing it will ax 862 jobs this week.

That figure represents 13% of Redfin's workforce, the real estate data company said in email posted on its website. About 264 of the jobs being cut are at RedfinNow, the house-flipping arm of the company that launched five years ago. Redfin said it plans to spend the coming months dismantling RedfinNow, adding that homes purchased from the unit lost $18 million in value during the third quarter. 

"Winding down RedfinNow is a strategic decision we made in order to focus our resources on our core businesses in the face of the rising cost of capital," Redfin said in a regulatory filing Wednesday.