Dive Brief:

• At a time when more apartment owners are turning to the government-sponsored enterprises for financing, Freddie Mac has named two senior vice presidents reporting to head of multifamily Kevin Palmer.
• New multifamily division chief operating officer Bill Buskirk will be responsible for asset management, loan administration and servicing, counterparty risk management, marketing and communications, business strategy and board reporting, and business insights. Steve Johnson, a 22-year veteran of Freddie Mac, will serve as head of production and sales, which is a position he has held on an interim basis since May.
• The appointments of Johnson and Buskirk finalize Freddie’s multifamily senior management team. “These two leaders bring a combined 42 years’ experience at Freddie Mac during which they have helped our segment grow to become a powerhouse leader in multifamily,” Palmer said in a press release. “They have strengthened our business and helped navigate through dynamic and challenging markets.”

Dive Insight:

Johnson and Buskirk are well acquainted with Freddie Mac and the multifamily business. 

Buskirk has served as the multifamily segment’s chief financial officer for nearly 13 years and has been with the organization since 2002. As CFO, his responsibilities ranged from financial and business reporting and accounting to budgeting and forecasting. He also advised the segment’s leaders on pricing approaches, capital allocations and earnings optimization.

Johnson served as vice president of Small Balance Lending and Targeted Affordable Housing. He stood up Freddie Mac’s SBL initiative, helping establish an efficient loan execution for five- to 50-unit properties. He also helped shepherd growth in the TAH business, including a substantial expansion of all four of its segments — immediates, forwards, structured transactions and low-income housing tax credit equity investments.

Palmer commented that the appointments of Johnson and Buskirk set the division up for success in 2023. Many multifamily investors and lenders expect the agency to be active in the year ahead as other debt sources have departed the market or become less affordable to borrowers.

“I think the agencies will pick up a bigger portion of the pie,” said Dan Brendes, senior vice president and head of GSE Lending at New York–based commercial real estate services firm Berkadia.”You may see agency market share go up.”

In preparation for the year ahead, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has established lending caps of $75 billion each for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, giving them a total of $150 billion for 2023. Last year, the government-sponsored enterprises had $78 billion each to allocate for multifamily loans.

FHFA notes that it will continue to monitor the multifamily mortgage market. If needed, it will increase the multifamily caps and adjust the mission-driven requirements. However, it will not lower the caps.

“They’re still going to be actively lending to the extent people want money,” said Kyle Draeger, senior managing director of multifamily debt and structured finance at CBRE Capital Markets. 

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