FHFA releases plans to improve housing opportunities for the underserved

The FHFA announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will seek to extend housing access in rural underserved markets, enhance their support for manufactured housing, and continue addressing liquidity needs for first-time homebuyers.

Background: As required under two separate regulatory frameworks, the FHFA publishes plans that discuss initiatives to advance equitable access to affordable and sustainable housing in underserved markets and communities.

Details: The FHFA said its plans:

• Seek to improve access to mortgage liquidity across manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing.

• Expand liquidity to serve nearly 690,000 renter households and more than 90,000 homeowner households.

• Include strategies to help communities across the entire rural market in addition to the highest-need rural populations defined by regulation.

• Will enhance free financial education and homeownership education materials by adding home maintenance and natural disaster risk topics and translating materials into new languages.

ICBA View: In a June comment letter, ICBA said it remains supportive of actions that remove barriers that prevent fair and equitable access to housing but noted that the FHFA’s definition of “first-time homebuyer” needed clarification.