WASHINGTON, DC -- Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) today announced that the company, through its lender and housing partners, provided $10.1 billion in debt financing for the multifamily rental housing market in the first half of 2009.

"Fannie Mae and its DUS® lenders had a very strong first half of the year," said Phil Weber, senior vice president of Fannie Mae's Multifamily division. "The company remains committed to providing liquidity and bringing stability to the multifamily industry, especially during this volatile market."

Fannie Mae's DUS lenders and affiliates delivered $9.9 billion of the company's total investment in multifamily housing. All of the business delivered by this group utilized the company's DUS platform, which has been providing liquidity to multifamily housing projects for more than 20 years. DUS lenders are able to underwrite, close and deliver most loans without pre-review by Fannie Mae, which results in a highly efficient execution.

Fannie Mae Multifamily made reinvigorating its MBS business and broadening the investor base its top priority in 2009. By ramping up its MBS execution, Fannie Mae Multifamily is shifting from being primarily a multifamily portfolio market participant to one that provides liquidity to the multifamily market mainly through MBS issuance. Approximately 71 percent of total production in the first half of 2009 was an MBS execution, compared to 17 percent in the first half of 2008.

Highlights of mid-year 2009 production include the following specialty production, which is part of the overall total multifamily investment number*:

• Small Loans (loans of up to $3 million, or $5 million in high cost areas): $1.1 billion;
• Structured Transactions: $1.7 billion;
• Multifamily Affordable Housing (MAH), which provides financing for rent-restricted properties for people earning 60 percent or less of median income: $661 million;
• MBS: $7.1 billion;
• Manufactured Housing Communities: $740 million;
• Seniors Housing: $300 million.