The


Federal
Housing
Finance
Agency
(FHFA)
on
Monday
announced
that
it
will
raise
the
2025
multifamily
loan
caps
for
purchases
by
the
government-sponsored
enterprises
(GSEs)


Fannie
Mae
and


Freddie
Mac
to
$73
billion
each.
This
represents
a
total
of
$146
billion
in

multifamily
market
support
for
next
year,
an
increase
of
more
than
4%
from

2024
levels.

FHFA
establishes
these
caps
every
year,
and
as
was
the
case
for
2024,
“multifamily
loans
that
finance
workforce
housing
will
be
excluded
from
the
2025
limits,”
the
announcement
explained.

FHFA
Director

Sandra
Thompson
said
that
the
new
caps
highlight
the
agency’s
efforts
to
make
rental
housing
more
affordable.
“Additionally,
the
ongoing
workforce
housing
exemption
will
continue
to
enhance
the
Enterprises’
ability
to
support
properties
that
preserve
affordable
rents,
including
properties
preserved
or
created
through
corporate-sponsored

affordable
housing
initiatives,”
Thompson
said.

Workforce
housing
was
first
exempted
from
the
caps
last
year.
Since
that
point,
“both
Enterprises
have
seen
encouraging
growth
in
this
critical
market
segment,”
the
FHFA
said.
“In
addition,
FHFA
is
continuing
to
require
that
at
least
50%
of
the
Enterprises’
multifamily
businesses
be
mission-driven,”
which
continues
a
requirement
unveiled
last
year.

FHFA
said
it
will
continue
to
monitor
the
multifamily
mortgage
market
and
reserves
the
right
to
raise
the
caps
again
to
support
market
liquidity,
if
it’s
deemed
necessary.
But
in
an
effort
to
prevent
disruption,
“if
FHFA
determines
that
the
actual
size
of
the
2025
market
is
smaller
than
was
initially
projected,
FHFA
will
not
lower
the
caps,”
the
agency
explained.

FHFA
has
set
the
caps
on
the
GSEs’
conventional
multifamily
businesses
since
2015.
While
some
previous
exclusions
were
in
effect,
FHFA
in
2019
moved
to

revise
the
cap
structure
to
apply
to
all
multifamily
business,
removing
many
of
the
previous
exclusions
and
tightening
the
criteria
for
loans
that
are
eligible
for
exclusion.

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