On Wed., July 14, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Sandra L. Thompson, shared public remarks during a virtual listening session regarding FHFA’s mission to “foster a sustainable housing finance system that supports equitable access to both affordable homeownership and rental housing, reaching communities of color, rural areas and other underserved populations.”
These underserved markets include affordable housing preservation, manufactured housing and rural markets. According to Thompson, under the Safety and Soundness Act, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must “provide leadership” in facilitating a secondary market in mortgages for families in these three areas.
The details:
Inventory shortages are putting increased pressure on the enterprises, but manufactured housing is an option that can potentially grow the affordable housing supply without introducing subsidies, according to Thompson.
In rural areas, which typically have limited housing supply with a majority of older properties, connecting to the national housing finance system becomes difficult. However, the FHFA stated that despite added challenges due to the pandemic, Fannie and Freddie were able to exceed some of their goals within the rural housing market in 2020.
“FHFA expects the enterprises to live up to their mission obligations and help ensure that investment capital reaches underserved markets,” said Thompson. “Fannie and Freddie have a responsibility to identify the obstacles these communities face in accessing mortgage credit and affordable housing, as well as a duty to develop strategies for overcoming them safely and soundly.”
Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s senior online editor. Email her your real estate news ideas to lizd@rismedia.com.
