FHFA Issues Housing Goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Housing Finance
Published

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has proposed its 2021 housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Due to the economic uncertainty related to the COVID-19 national pandemic, FHFA is proposing benchmarks for calendar year 2021 only, and those levels will remain the same as they were for 2018-2020. Once finalized, the proposed benchmark levels would extend those benchmarks that are currently set to expire on Dec. 31, 2020.

The 2021 single-family benchmarks are as follows:

  • Low-income home purchase goal: 24%
  • Very low-income home purchase goal: 6%
  • Low-income areas home purchase subgoal: 14%
  • Low-income refinance goal: 21%

The 2021 multifamily benchmarks are as follows:

  • Low-income goal: 315,000 units
  • Very low-income subgoal: 60,000 units
  • Small multifamily low-income subgoal: 10,000 units

FHFA has asked interested parties to submit comments on the proposed rule to the Federal Register within 60 days.

For more information, email Michelle Kitchen or Becky Froass at NAHB or call Michelle at 800-368-5242 x8352 or Becky at x8529.

Subscribe to NAHBNow

Log in or create account to subscribe to notifications of new posts.

Log in to subscribe

Latest from NAHBNow

Trends

Jan 21, 2026

Single-Family Home Size Continues to Decline

The market could see a leveling off of home size trends in 2026 as mortgage interest rates approach 6% on a sustained basis.

Workforce Development

Jan 20, 2026

Plan Early for Summer Internship Season with NAHB Resources

The most effective internship programs don’t come together at the last minute. To help, NAHB offers the Internship Program Development Guide and Appendices to the Internship Program Development Guide.

View all

Latest Economic News

Economics

Jan 20, 2026

New Single-Family Home Size Trends: Third Quarter 2025

New single-family home size has been generally falling since 2015 as a response to declining affordability conditions. An exception occurred when new home size increased in 2021 as interest rates reached historic lows. However, as interest rates increased in 2022 and 2023, and housing affordability worsened, the demand for home size has trended lower.

Economics

Jan 20, 2026

Third Quarter 2025 Multifamily Construction Data

According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts increased during the third quarter of 2025. For the quarter, 119,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 114,000 were built-for-rent.

Economics

Jan 19, 2026

Soft Conditions for Single-Family Built-for-Rent

Single-family built-for-rent construction fell back in the third quarter of 2025, as a higher cost of financing and increased multifamily supply crowded out development.