In April, Fannie and Freddie will begin charging sharply higher LLPAs on second-home and high-balance mortgages. The change is likely to expand non-agency securitizations at the expense of Fannie and Freddie.
Multifamily caps have kept Fannie and Freddie from expanding their footprint in the apartment market, which grew by 25% in 2021 and is expected to expand by as much as 11% this year.
Don Layton believes the new 2022 loan limits will cause home prices to increase even more, but the politicization of the housing-finance system makes it unlikely FHFA will be able to do anything about it.
Sandra Thompson, the acting FHFA director, said Fannie and Freddie have responsibilities beyond the narrow affordable housing goals to ensure access to credit for borrowers in all parts of the country.