Comment Detail

Comment

The Honorable Sandra Thompson
Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency
451 7th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20410
Dear Director Thompson,
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your Request for Input (RFI) on how the Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), in its oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, can best provide
affordable housing opportunities for renters across the country. The Institute of Real Estate
Management (IREM®) is an international community of real estate managers dedicated to ethical
business practices, maximizing the value of investment real estate, and promoting superior
management through education and information sharing. IREM members manage 60% of federally
subsidized and public housing.
As the FHFA examines ways to improve access to affordable housing, it is critical for FHFA to
acknowledge the greatest driver of housing unaffordability is the limited supply of available
housing. According to recent data, the United States has an underproduction gap of over 5.5
million units – a key underlying factor to why the cost of housing has increased. On top of this,
inflation has increased the costs for goods and services for all Americans. As housing providers
strive to provide affordable housing opportunities in their communities, they also contend with
rising mortgage rates, and increased costs for supplies, services, and maintenance. When inflation
is high, the costs of materials increase. That means it becomes especially more expensive for
construction teams to build new homes or renovate existing homes. Ultimately, these high costs
spill into the housing market and lift home prices for new builds and existing housing.
As property management professional and member of IREM, I am committed to upholding the
very specific provisions of our contracts with residents, and often go above and beyond what is
required to ensure residents have safe, decent, and affordable places to live. Rental housing is a
deeply complex issue that is unique to every community. Creating additional layers of policies to a
space that is already heavily regulated by state and local governments will have severe unintended
consequences and will result in housing providers leaving the market, in communities where
affordable housing is sorely needed.
Affordable housing is pivotal to creating paths to upward mobility for people across the country.
Thank you for your commitment to ensuring we achieve this goal without impeding the supply of
much-needed housing.
Sincerely,
James Biram