Affordable Housing in the Next Generation of GSEs
15 May 2010 - Housing Finance | Jerry Ascierto
Excerpt:
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have played a vital role in the affordable housing world, but the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are an endangered species.
As Congress begins to remake our nation’s housing finance system, one of the biggest issues is to what extent the next generation of housing finance agencies will play in the affordable housing arena.
All options, at this point, are on the table.
“No one at the national level, neither Fannie, Freddie nor the FHA, has been really able to address financing for smaller properties,” says Buzz Roberts, a senior vice president for policy at the Local Initiatives Support Corp. “It’s great if Fannie can go down to $1 million, but we need more than just one way to go. Competition encourages innovation, and better pricing.”
The fledgling entities will be hungry to build up a market niche, Roberts says, and if an entity is a fraction of the size of Fannie Mae, small loans might look like a more attractive business line. Continued[+]...
> Read the full Housing Finance article
> Visit the LISC Policy website
Article Type: News