The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) published a final rule establishing updated affordable housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises). The rule requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to support the development of at least 415,000 rental homes annually that are affordable to renters with incomes at or below 80 percent of area median income (AMI), an increase from 315,000 rental homes in 2021. The subgoal for units affordable to very low-income renters (those earning 50 percent of AMI or below) is also increased from 60,000 to 88,000 units. The subgoal for affordable units in small multifamily properties (those properties with five to 50 units) is increased from 10,000 for both Enterprises in 2021 to 17,000 for Fannie Mae and 23,000 for Freddie Mac. FHFA initially proposed to set the small multifamily property subgoal at 23,000 units for both Enterprises but decided to set separate goals because it felt that difference in Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s multifamily business models made it easier for Freddie Mac to finance such properties.
The Enterprises’ affordable multifamily goals are in effect only for 2022 and FHFA expects to develop new proposed goals for 2023 sometime next year to consider updated economic data and post-COVID market conditions.
