BROADCAST EMAIL – Regulatory Update

FHFA sent out the following announcement on 2022 Multifamily Loan Purchase Caps:

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced that the 2022 multifamily loan purchase caps for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will be $78 billion for each Enterprise, for a combined total of $156 billion to support the multifamily market. The 2022 caps, which increased from $70 billion for each Enterprise in 2021, are based on FHFA’s projections of the overall growth of the multifamily originations market.

To ensure a strong focus on affordable housing and traditionally underserved markets, FHFA will require that at least 50 percent of the Enterprises’ multifamily business be mission-driven affordable housing. FHFA will also require at least 25 percent of the Enterprises’ multifamily business be affordable to residents at or below 60 percent of area median income (AMI), up from 20 percent in 2021.

“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 L. Thompson.

In addition, FHFA has changed certain definitions of multifamily mission-driven affordable housing in Appendix A of the Conservatorship Scorecard. In 2022, FHFA will allow loans on affordable units in cost-burdened renter markets and loans to finance energy or water efficiency improvements with units affordable at or below 60 percent of AMI to be classified as mission-driven.

​To ensure the Enterprises continue to provide sufficient liquidity and support in the multifamily mortgage market, FHFA will continue to monitor impacts of COVID-19 on the multifamily mortgage market and will update the multifamily caps and mission-driven requirements if adjustments are warranted. 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.

Links to the Multifamily Caps Fact Sheet and 2022 Appendix A.

Please contact the CARH national office at carh@carh.org or 703-837-9001 should you have questions or concerns. For other news and information affecting the affordable rural housing industry, please visit the Newsroom on CARH’s website, www.carh.org.