We already knew that Freddie Mac set an all-time record for multifamily security issuance in 2018, so it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that 2018 was the government-sponsored enterprise’s best overall year ever in multifamily.
Freddie Mac announced this week that it set a new record for multifamily production in 2018. According to the GSE, its multifamily production checked in at $78 billion in 2018, besting the previous record of $73.2 billion, which was set in 2017.
Of that total, $77.5 billion was loan purchase and guarantee volume, while $500 million came in the form of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity investments. Freddie Mac returned to the LIHTC financing market last year after not taking part in the program for 10 years.
Overall, the GSE said that it financed 860,000 rental units, more than 90% of which are considered affordable to low- and moderate-income families that are making 120% of area median income and below.
“We’re extremely proud of our efforts to meet our affordability mission and our continued leadership of the multifamily industry in both purchase volume and securitization,” said Debby Jenkins, executive vice president and head of Freddie Mac multifamily.
“In the last decade, we have fundamentally transformed into a company that thrives on innovation. We’re working to harness that innovation every day—to create and enhance offerings to meet customer’s diverse needs, to lower our cost of capital and protect taxpayers with innovative securities, and to lead the multifamily industry into its next great chapter,” Jenkins continued. “Without question, our team at Freddie Mac multifamily and our network of sellers and servicers are the driving force behind our successes and we thank everyone for their dedication to this business and industry.”
According to Freddie Mac, it also reached several other milestones in multifamily production last year, including:
- A record $8.1 billion in Targeted Affordable Housing Loans
- More than $8.3 billion in Small Balance Loans, up from $7.8 billion in 2017
- Nearly $23.1 billion in Green Advantage loans for energy- and water-saving improvements to workforce housing
“We’re proud of our successes in 2018, but we do not measure them by numbers alone. As we look forward, we’re going to continue working to address the persistent affordability challenges facing countless renters,” Jenkins said about the GSE’s plans for this year.
“In fact, far too many Americans are struggling to find suitable housing at a reasonable price, and we are continuing our work toward innovations that can help. We’re also striving to improve the customer experience through our digital transformation initiative,” Jenkins added. “This multiyear effort will leverage new technologies to redefine the commercial loan experience so that it is more transparent and efficient.”
For more information about which lenders helped Freddie Mac reach its record-breaking volume, click here.
