OceanFirst to close mortgage banking unit

May 17 (Reuters) - OceanFirst Financial Corp. (OCFC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it decided to close down its mortgage banking subsidiary as the unit incurred significant operating losses in the last two quarters from subprime mortgage loan originations.

The bank holding company estimates $900,000 in employee severance and lease cancellation charges related to the closure of the unit, Columbia Home Loans LLC, it said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The discontinuation of Columbia's operation is expected to be completed within six months," the filing said.

On April 25, OceanFirst had said it was in talks with an interested party on the sale of Columbia Homes and that it would shut down the unit if the talks failed.

On Wednesday, the company said Robert Pardes resigned as chief lending officer of its OceanFirst Bank unit and as president of Columbia Home.

Company officials were not available for comment. (Reporting by Avishek Mishra in Bangalore)