Both Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be maintaining a $30B multifamily loan cap in 2016, having boosted their multifamily financing to $66.4B this year.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the two government-sponsored enterprises, will establish quarterly reviews so that adjustments can be made to market conditions, Director Melvin L. Watt said on Monday.
Commercial lenders financing apartments had been hoping the cap would increase, but the FHFA instead exempted other types of multifamily mortgages from counting towards the cap to accommodate those affordable ones instead.
Other exemptions will include properties in higher-cost areas, loans for senior housing and small multifamily properties that target low-income tenants. In 2016, rural area apartments and loans for energy-efficiency improvements will become exceptions. Up to $12B in exempted "relief" is expected at the end this year. [Bloomberg]
