The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announces multifamily lending caps for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will remain capped at $36.5 billion in 2017, the same amount as 2016.
Lending caps are determined by the projected size of the 2017 multifamily finance market. FHFA does not expect much to change over the next year.
FHFA has not yet received the 2017 scorecard, which will provide more information about the role the enterprises are expected to play in the multifamily market. FHFA decided to announce the caps early as a way to maintain continuity in the market. The announcement also provides all stakeholders enough time to plan their 2017 pipelines.
In order to avoid any market disruption, the Federal Housing Finance Agency will not reduce the caps. On a quarterly basis, FHFA will review its estimates for multifamily loan origination market size and adjust caps if necessary.
Exclusions for loans will remain the same as in 2016; however, a minor change will be made to multifamily loans that finance energy and water efficiency improvements. This change includes establishing that multifamily projects must have at least 20 percent of their units deemed affordable in order to take advantage of exclusions provided under Fannie Mae’s Green Building Certification program or the Freddie Mac’s Green Certificate program.