Progress With Purpose
Progress With Purpose
At Fannie Mae, we’re driving the housing industry forward with innovative initiatives and sustainable solutions that uphold our strong ethics and culture. We’re changing the way we do business together to ensure an affordable, inclusive, and accessible housing market.
What Progress Means
Our goal is as simple as it is important. We aim to provide more housing opportunities for everyone in America.
We aim to do that in three ways: First, by looking inward to ensure that we are creating an equitable and inclusive environment where all our employees can thrive and contribute to our mission. Second, by knocking down the housing barriers of the past and expanding access to a quality, affordable place to call home. Third, by driving change across the entire housing industry, so that it better represents the people it serves.
The Homeownership Gap
Black homeownership is the lowest of all racial groups in the United States, and the Black homeownership gap is not improving. 42% of Black Americans own homes compared to 72% of non-Hispanic white Americans – a gap of 30 percentage points, which translates to about 4.7 million Black households.
The housing reality for Black Americans
Black Americans historically — and currently — face significant obstacles when it comes to securing and maintaining housing, both in the rental market as well as in homeownership. It’s vital that we understand these issues to develop solutions that expand housing equity for Black renters and homeowners.
Equitable Housing Finance Plan
Our new three-year plan will support Black renters and homebuyers in a number of ways, from programs to decrease renters’ security deposit costs to providing down payment assistance and giving credit-invisible homebuyers more access to loans.
Advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace
As of December 18, 2021, racial or ethnic minorities constituted 57% of our overall workforce and 24% of our officer-level employees, and women constituted 44% of our overall workforce and 35% of our officer-level employees.
Creating opportunities for borrowers without credit scores
Homebuyers who lack credit scores have traditionally faced challenges when trying to qualify for a mortgage, but enhancements in DU® will help with that.
Making rent count
We’re helping lenders qualify more first-time homebuyers for a mortgage using their history of consistent rent payments.
Educating first-time homebuyers
We’re creating a go-to resource that’s designed to help first-time homebuyers navigate the mortgage process in English or Spanish.
The power of diversity and inclusion
Fannie Mae is committed to diversity in our supplier base, as evidenced by the millions of dollars we directly award to diverse suppliers annually.
Opening doors to rewarding careers in housing
The Future Housing Leaders® program connects college students from diverse backgrounds to opportunities for paid internships with housing industry employers who are actively engaged in promoting diversity in their workforce.
Recognizing the benefits of a more diverse appraiser workforce
The Appraiser Diversity Initiative is intended to attract new entrants to the appraisal field, knock down barriers to entry, and foster diversity.
Approximately 3,000 mortgage applications
have benefitted from positive rent payment history in Desktop Underwriter through September 2022. Of those, 40% of the borrowers identified specifically as Black or Latino/Hispanic.
More than 141,000 first-time homebuyers
have completed the HomeView™ education course.
$46 billion of mortgages
purchased in 2020 from single-family lenders that identified as minority- or women-owned lenders.