“However, to prevent market disruption, if FHFA determines that the actual size of the 2022 market is smaller than was initially projected, FHFA will not reduce the caps.”
The FHFA said that it will require at least 50% of Fannie and Freddie’s multifamily businesses to support affordable housing and traditionally underserved sectors. At least 25% of the firms’ multifamily businesses must be affordable to residents at or below 60% of the area median income (AMI). The FHFA increased this requirement from 20% in 2021.
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Additionally, FHFA tweaked certain definitions of multifamily mission-driven affordable housing in Appendix A of the Conservatorship Scorecard. In 2022, the agency will allow the GSEs to classify affordable units in cost-burdened renter markets, as well as energy or water efficiency improvements with units affordable at or below 60% of AMI as “mission-driven.”
“The increases of the multifamily loan purchase caps and higher mission-driven business requirements assure that the enterprises’ multifamily businesses have a strong and growing commitment to affordable housing finance, particularly for residents and communities that are the most difficult to serve,” said FHFA acting director Sandra Thompson.