Freddie Mac Multifamily recently held our 2024 Impact Summit, bringing together a range of lenders and borrowers to discuss trends in the multifamily industry, showcase best practices and find innovative solutions to deliver increased impact in markets across the country. It was a pleasure to see many friends and colleagues, and to connect with new faces as we covered a wide range of topics. I had a chance to share a few thoughts on the year we’ve had to date — and what is still ahead.

For us, 2024 represented a tale of two halves, as a slow start to the year gave way to a significant acceleration in volume by the summer. We took a serious look at our business processes to make sure we were ready for a future increase in inflow and made changes including delegating decision-making to those closer to local markets. As rates dropped, Freddie Mac was well-positioned to meet the historic volume we’ve seen through the fall.

Through it all, we remained focused on reaching our affordable, workforce housing and other mission goals, which I’m proud to say we are on track to meet. But there is always more we can do while working together with our partners. As we look to build on this recent momentum, I wanted to share several examples of how our mission-focused work — whether our support for small balance loans, diverse and emerging firms, and resident centered housing — continues to evolve and expand.

Small Balance Loans

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of our Small Balance Loan program. And in that time, plenty has changed in the market — but not the need for stability and reliability. And that’s where Freddie Mac comes in.

When we first launched the program, we estimated providing $1 billion in financing per year. The market was so receptive to this offering that we quickly surpassed that mark and have provided more than $44 billion in liquidity over the last decade, funding loans in all 50 states and Washington D.C. In that time, the program has supported approximately 600,000 units, 95% of which are affordable to households earning at or below 100% of area median income. Residents of smaller properties eligible for this program often include working-class families that serve critical roles in their communities, such as first responders, teachers and service industry workers.

Now, we are focused on how we can continue to evolve and innovate, ensuring that our program continues to meet the needs of the market for the next 10 years.

Increasing Capital Access for Diverse and Emerging Firms

We are working to help expand our industry by bridging the gaps in knowledge, relationships and financing that can hamper diverse and emerging borrowers still building their businesses.

One way we do this is through the invaluable contributions of a steering committee of such borrowers who can share first-hand experiences and challenges — and work together to overcome these hurdles. This year, we also expanded programs that open doors for smaller financial institutions — such as Community Development Financial Institutions and local and regional banks — so they can recycle capital and support affordable housing with new lending.

We remain committed to innovative thinking to support those whose ideas and new approaches will make our industry stronger.

Resident Centered Housing

Over the past few years, the multifamily market has made significant strides by adopting practices and providing services that strengthen the landlord-tenant relationship and support renters’ well-being. Our Impact Sponsors are among those leading the way in this space by promoting tenant advancement, environmental best practices and social impact across their portfolios, and at Freddie Mac we are focused on how we can support them and share their market-driven successes.

Building on Momentum Together

The 2024 Impact Summit was an opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made as an industry and focus on what we can do to build a better and stronger multifamily market. Through our collective work, we have served a wide range of tenants across the country, from seniors to students. But those efforts are far from complete.

Building on this momentum requires us to serve our role of being there every day, in every market, to complete deals, deliver liquidity and provide bespoke, personalized service. Over the past year, we managed to accelerate production efficiency despite facing a volatile market cycle. This reflects our platform and outstanding staff, of course, but we recognize that we cannot make an impact without our lenders, servicers and borrowers. We look forward to another year of building on our momentum together, providing liquidity, stability and affordability to the multifamily market and Making Home Possible.

©2024 by Freddie Mac.