Faron Thompson Featured in REBusiness Online: GSEs Ramp Up Affordable Housing Lending Efforts
ATLANTA, GEORGIA (August 3, 2021) — Faron Thompson, senior vice president/managing director of NorthMarq's Atlanta Debt/Equity team shared his expert insights with REBusiness Online in an article titled: "GSEs Ramp Up Affordable Housing Lending Efforts." The story traces how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in particular have gone "all-in" on loan production in the affordable sector following changes made by their regulator.
Thompson spoke on one of the positive results from FHFA's new cap structure that the GSEs discovered through the first half of 2021: Agency lenders can be aggressive in pricing for affordable housing while still giving attractive terms for borrowers of market-rate properties.
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently determined that the 50 percent production requirement for affordable loans is nowhere near the hurdle they thought it would be," said Thompson. "That doesn't mean they're going to finance luxury apartments, buy we're not going to see them reserve their best pricing for communities that are deeply affordable. We're seeing their best pricing come across a variety of product, whereas at the first of the year it might not have been priced to win.