Dave Currie is president of Province Mortgage Associates, a residential mortgage lender which recently acquired Constitution Mortgage, expanding its footprint to Connecticut. The company also recently moved to a new building in East Providence. In a recent exchange, Currie told the Providence Business News what the changes mean.
PBN: What has the acquisition of Constitution Mortgage allowed Province Mortgage Associates to do, in terms of geographic reach or client base?
CURRIE: The acquisition of Constitution Mortgage in Cheshire, Conn. has allowed us to expand our footprint further out into New England. With multiple offices in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, this opportunity gives us an entry into the Connecticut marketplace which we are very excited about. We’ve been licensed and doing business in Connecticut for years, however we’ve never had a team and a physical location. Our new Cheshire team is a group of seasoned mortgage professionals who collectively have established an outstanding reputation in their market. As far as our new headquarters building at 50 Office Parkway in East Providence, we needed more space for our growing operations staff. It is centrally located for staff driving in from the south coast of Massachusetts, as well as from northern Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut. By purchasing our own building we’re now also able to offer amenities to our staff we were unable to offer in past through renting. Cable television in the break room and an outdoor picnic area with a grill for cooking are just a couple of new features.
PBN: What are the services provided by the company and how have they changed in the past five years?
CURRIE: Province Mortgage Associates specializes in residential mortgage lending with licenses in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Montana. In our earlier years we were a mortgage broker with limited products and programs. In subsequent years we became a non-delegated lender, which expanded our product base and allowed us to fund our own loans. In 2014 we took a significant step in becoming a fully delegated lender with access to all products and programs as well as the ability to underwrite, process, close, and fund all of our loans. More control over the process equates to a better mortgage experience for our clients.
PBN: What are some of the trends you’re seeing in mortgages?
CURRIE: Overall, the market has been outstanding. We’re seeing more first-time homebuyers than in years past. In polling some of our mortgage professionals, we’re also seeing more single women buying homes. This activity is driven by a marketplace full of good quality housing that is affordable. People in these demographics are taking the initiative to become more educated about the difference between renting and buying. In many instances, they are discovering that they qualify for a mortgage payment lower than renting, along with all the financial advantages to owning a home. For example, according to Zillow.com, rents have grown at roughly twice the pace of incomes. In Boston it has been reported that renters spend 33.8 percent of their income on rent where homeowners spend 22.4 percent of their income on their mortgage. In summary, overall mortgage originations have increased nearly 30 percent from 2014 until August 2015 due to a number of factors: a decrease in rates, increased equity, and relaxed lending standards with decreased financing costs. The purchase market should remain on a slightly positive trend with interest rates remaining near historic lows due to depressed inflation and global economic uncertainties. Ultimately, people have become empowered to purchase today instead of waiting.
PBN: Are there new products emerging that are designed to encourage homeownership rates? If so, what are they?
CURRIE: Specialty programs like Rhode Island Housing, MASS Housing, or CT Housing are not necessarily emerging products, however they are being utilized much more due to first-time homebuyers being so prevalent in the market. Jumbo mortgage rates are more competitive than in past years due to lenders’ willingness to venture into that world again as home values have stabilized. Home equity loans are also playing a larger role once again in today’s market allowing more people to split loans associated with large purchase prices giving them more lending options. Non-QM (Qualified Mortgage) products are the newest emerging mortgage product we have recently seen with qualification criteria landing somewhere in between subprime and prime mortgages. An example would be “asset based” programs which aim to help buyers who carry high debt to income ratios, but have large amounts of assets.
PBN: What is the most common difficulty people have in obtaining a mortgage in Rhode Island and what are some of the steps they can follow to address it?
CURRIE: Credit! Poor credit scores are typically what limit people. In this case, knowledge is power. Consumers should not only know their credit scores, but they also need to have a better understanding as to how they are calculated. Good mortgage professionals can educate clients about how they can improve their scores, which will impact their ability to purchase a home in the near future. Websites like www.annualcreditreport.com or utilizing a website of one of the three credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion) can also help consumers gain the knowledge they need to control their credit rating. The new benchmark for credit scores is 740, so anyone with scores below that mark should look into ways they can better manage their debt to get their scores up to that standard.
