Fannie Mae Supplies $10.1B in Liquidity to Multifamily Industry in First Half ’09

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWashington, D.C.—Fannie Mae announced that it has provided $10.1 billion in debt financing for the multifamily rental housing market in the first half of 2009.  “Fannie Mae and its DUS lenders had a very strong first half of the year,” said Phil Weber, senior vice president of Fannie Mae’s Multifamily division. “The company remains committed to providing liquidity and bringing stability to the multifamily industry, especially during this volatile market.”Of the 10.1 billion in financing, Fannie Mae’s DUS lenders and affiliates delivered $9.9 billion of the company’s total investment in multifamily housing. Fannie Mae says that all of the business delivered by this group utilized the company’s DUS platform, which has been providing liquidity to multifamily housing projects for more than 20 years. DUS lenders are able to underwrite, close and deliver most loans without pre-review by Fannie Mae, which, Fannie Mae says, results in a highly efficient execution.  Fannie Mae is “very pleased” with its production in the first half of the year, said Heidi McKibben, vice president of Multifamily Production, in a teleconference last week. McKibben said Fannie Mae is seeing more interest on the part of borrowers today in 10-year Fixed Rate loans, which seem to make most sense for refinancing and acquisitions.  About 71 percent of total production in the first half of 2009 was an MBS execution, compared to 17 percent in the first half of 2008. [See separate MHN article.]Highlights of mid-year 2009 production include the following specialty production, which is part of the overall total multifamily investment number: – Small Loans (loans of up to $3 million, or $5 million in high cost areas): $1.1 billion;- Structured Transactions: $1.7 billion;- Multifamily Affordable Housing (MAH), which provides financing for rent-restricted properties for people earning 60 percent or less of median income: $661 million;- MBS: $7.1 billion;- Manufactured Housing Communities: $740 million;- Seniors Housing: $300 million.