​Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced that the 2017 multifamily lending caps for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will remain at the same level they were for 2016.  This means that each Enterprise will be subject to a cap of $36.5 billion of multifamily purchase volume next year.  The caps are based on projections of the overall size of the 2017 multifamily finance market, which FHFA expects to be roughly the same as it was in 2016. 

While the 2017 Scorecard will provide more information about the role FHFA expects the Enterprises to play in the multifamily market, FHFA is announcing the caps now to maintain continuity in the market and to provide all stakeholders adequate time to plan their 2017 pipelines.  As in prior years, FHFA will review its estimates of the multifamily loan origination market size on a quarterly basis in 2017 and adjust the caps if necessary.  However, FHFA will not reduce the caps as this could cause disruption in the market.

The multifamily lending caps are intended to further FHFA's strategic goal of maintaining the presence of the Enterprises as a backstop for the multifamily finance market, while not impeding the participation of private capital.  Certain exclusions from the 2017 caps exist for loans in the affordable and underserved market segments.  These exclusions will remain the same in 2017 as they were in 2016 with one minor change to the exclusion for multifamily loans that finance energy or water efficiency improvements.  In 2017, for loans funded under Fannie Mae's Green Building Certification program or Freddie Mac's Green Certified program a minimum of 20 percent of units in a multifamily project must be deemed affordable in order to take advantage of this exclusion.