Critics argue that the mechanical method for determining the loan limits distorts the market and makes it harder for the GSEs to meet their affordable housing goals.

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.

Critics say FHFA’s proposed changes to the enterprise regulatory capital framework are a move in the right direction, but the agency still hasn’t addressed the procyclicality of the rule or explained how the new provisions were calculated.

The mortgage giant is tied by an alphabet soup to the even larger cloud giant.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency sets new standards for assessing Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s performance and releases a report assessing its own performance.

If it gets through the Senate in its current form, the Build Back Better bill could have several budgetary impacts on the housing finance industry.

Market forces and regulatory issues outside the control of Fannie and Freddie may make it difficult for them to achieve the proposed affordable housing benchmarks.

UMMC argues that the GSEs’ three-year duty-to-serve plans are wholly inadequate to address the current affordable housing crisis.

Housing stakeholders liked FHFA’s plan to require Fannie and Freddie to develop equitable housing finance plans, but they also recommended changes.

Expanding the definition of affordability to include more loans in cost-burdened markets could be an important opportunity for multifamily lenders.