The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released its inaugural Mission Report on the 2021 activities of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks to provide greater access to financing for targeted economic development as well as affordable, equitable, and sustainable housing.
The agency’s oversight of the GSEs and the Federal Home Loan Banks ensures that a focus remains on mission-driven activities to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the mortgage market. This includes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs and initiatives, such as housing goals, fair lending, Duty to Serve, and the Conservatorship Scorecard, and FHLBank programs, such as the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) and Community Investment Program (CIP).
“FHFA is committed to promoting affordability, equity, and sustainability in the nation’s housing finance markets,” said director Sandra L. Thompson. “Our regulated entities have made progress in many mission-driven areas, and we will continue to improve affordable housing opportunities to support homeowners and renters.”
According to the FHFA, mission-related highlights from last year include:
- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac acquired nearly $140 billion in multifamily loans (totaling over 1.3 million units); 57% qualified as mission-driven affordable housing;
- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac acquired over 360,000 homeownership loans through their affordable housing programs, with 62% being first-time home buyer loans;
- The GSEs acquired loans on nearly 156,000 Duty to Serve multifamily units; over 48% of these units were affordable to very low-income households and over 75% of the units were in the affordable housing preservation market;
- The GSEs also purchased over 110,000 Duty to Serve single-family loans, with over 20,000 being affordable to very low-income borrowers; in addition, over 70% of these loans were in the rural housing market;
- $1.1 billion was invested in low-income housing tax credit equity, with $287 million in Duty to Serve rural locations; and
- From 2018 to 2021, the FHLBanks provided almost $1.7 billion under their AHP funding, which supported over 168,000 units for low- or moderate-income households; this figure includes over 88,000 very low-income units. In addition, nearly $22 billion in CIP funding was provided, supporting over 83,000 units for households with incomes at or below 115% of the area median income.