Agencies: Green Programs Are a “Homerun”

The Multifamily Giants: The Latest from Fannie and Freddie panel at RealShare Apartments.

LOS ANGELES—“Going green gets you more green,” quipped moderator Andrew Behrens, vice chairman at CBRE, at RealShare Apartments about the green loan programs at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Scott Croul, managing director of production and sales at Freddie Mac, and Phyllis Klein, VP at Fannie Mae, spoke on the Multifamily Giants: The Latest from Fannie and Freddie panel at the annual multifamily conference, and highlighted their green loan programs, with Croul calling theirs a “homerun.”

Both green lending programs offer a discount for “efficiencies made through renovations.” Freddie Mac underwrites some of the savings, but the discount is the major benefit to the borrower, according to Croul. “A lot of borrowers are using the green program to get better pricing and certainty of execution,” he said. Fannie also has a tremendous focus on green, and although their green program isn’t exempt from the caps, it also offers a discount—a pricing differential up to 45 basis points. “We are trying to create a marketplace for green MBS,” said Klein.