Acknowledging Fannie Mae’s Record $76 Billion Year
A look at how Fannie Mae Multifamily closed out 2020 with a record volume of $76 billion, and the lenders that helped them do it.
By now, we can all agree that the pandemic has significantly impacted the economy across various industries, and most of them in a not-so-positive way. Still, with the dust clearing and vaccines being rolled out faster than previously expected, the economy finally looks like it's ready to begin recovering. Even so, that’s not to say that every industry was in a bad place in 2020.
As it turns out, mortgage powerhouse Fannie Mae performed admirably over the course of a pandemic-stricken 2020. The company’s self-proclaimed mission to “support the multifamily market amid pandemic-driven disruptions to the economy and financial markets” seems to actually have been a success (at least if you look at the numbers). Upon releasing their 2020 reports, it was instantly noted that a record-breaking $76 billion dollars of financing was provided by Fannie Mae throughout last year.
Even with the unprecedented effects of covid-19 on everything from the economy to everyday life, Fannie Mae’s record $76 billion volume is the highest on record for the entirety of the now 32-year-old Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) program. Working closely with their DUS lenders to ensure continued liquidity for all parties involved seemed to have played a major role in the historical feat. In praising the commitment and hard work of DUS lenders, Michele Evans, Executive Vice President of Multifamily, Fannie Mae went on to say “…We served as a reliable source of financing for multifamily borrowers in an extraordinary year that called for the development of resources for renters and forbearance for borrowers.”
Not only was Fannie Mae able to exceed its projected volume, but they were also able to meet their promise of commitment to maintaining affordable housing as well. Reports show that multifamily affordable housing volume jumped nearly 9 percent to $7.8 billion in 2020 from just around $7.2 billion back in 2019. So-called “structured transactions” volume in 2020 totaled $11.6 billion, an incredible 34 percent raise from $8.6 billion in 2019. These types of transactions help support multifamily affordable housing, most notably workforce housing. Aside from that, even Fannie Mae’s Manufactured Housing Communities financing program helped support affordable housing, reaching a record $5.5 billion, a 120% increase from just $2.5 billion in 2019.
As for the real stars of the show, the DUS lenders that made such a huge and historic volume even possible, Fannie Mae’s reports highlighted the 10 entities responsible for the brunt of the volume output. The top ten DUS Lenders (and the volume they produced) of 2020 for Fannie Mae were:
Walker & Dunlop, LLC - $11.4 Billion
CBRE Multifamily Capital, Inc. - $6.8 Billion
Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC - $6.7 Billion
PGIM Real Estate - $5.2 Billion
Newmark - $5.2 Billion
Arbor Commercial Funding I, LLC - $4.8 Billion
Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital - $4.7 Billion
Greystone Servicing Company LLC - $4.7 Billion
KeyBank National Association - $3.9 Billion
Capital One, National Association - $3.8 Billion
It goes without saying that celebrations are in order, not just for Fannie Mae and its trusted DUS lenders, but for our industry in general. Multifamily finance is and has always been a key pillar of the United States economy, and to see it flourish during these hard times should be a ray of hope to all of us who make our careers in the multifamily market space. After all, who knows what good fortunes await after the official end of the pandemic, now that we’ve seen that success has never truly evaded our industry?