Page 21 - BusinessWest August 8, 2022

Making a difference
MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
What does it mean to make a difference? It means giving back. Being a source of strength. Lending a hand. Putting people first. Turning dreams into success. Cheering on the home team. And always being there no matter what. At Country Bank, this isn’t just what we believe in, it’s what we were made for.
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some stability. We try to work with people in that way in these unsettled times. Certainly, as a community bank, we feel a strong obligation to the community to find security and peace of mind for customers through this process.”
“We often tell folks who are getting into the homebuying game, especially people entering this crazy world for the first time, ‘take the workshop. We’ll show you different rate options, who
you’ll be working with, finding your agent, all those things. Just talk to us.”
Boivin said UMassFive likes to “lead with education,” which is the motivator behind its educational programs, like Home Buying 101.
“We often tell folks who are getting into the homebuying game, especially people entering this crazy world for the first time, ‘take the workshop. We’ll show you different rate options, who you’ll be working with, finding your agent, all those things. Just talk to us.’”
Dollars and Sense
While mortgage volume hasn’t gone down at most institutions, refinancing has understandably taken a hit.
“We saw lots of refinancing from 5% to 3%; these people are not going to give up their rate now for any reason,” O’Connor said. “But a home-equity line of credit is an alternative, so they can preserve their lower interest rate, and we’re seeing home-equity volumes back up. A line of credit is variable to prime, and people understand that, but for many people, it’s worth doing that rather than give up their fixed-rate mortgage.”
Ostrowski said there will always be some refinancing business “because there’s always a need for money. People always need to send their kids to college, and they always want to make improve- ments to their homes.”
On the mortgage-origination side, the first-time homebuyer seg- ment is most affected by higher interest rates, Sherbo said, simply
CRAIG BOIVAN
KEVIN O’CONNOR
“We want to take the uncertainty off someone’s head and give them some stability. We try to work with people in that way in these unsettled times.”
BusinessWest
BANKING & FINANCE
AUGUST 8, 2022 21
because they don’t have a home to sell in this inflated market. “They have the double whammy of higher rates and higher
prices at the same time, and they often don’t have the wherewithal to withstand a bidding war on a property. So we have to do our best and be as competitive as we can on our products and our rates. We historically have low loan fees compared to our competitors, and a strong relationship with the real-estate community here in our foot- print. Over time, we’ve developed a very good reputation for getting things done.”
The good news is that higher rates, married with a slight easing of the supply-and-demand conundrum, may push prices down, “but I don’t think we’ve seen that happen quite yet,” Sherbo added. “I think things should at least start settling down a little bit. We’re not seeing the bidding wars as hot and heavy as we have in the past. In some areas, there
are some signs things are
cooling down a little bit,
Mortgage
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