Fannie Mae's Targeted CRA Loan Volume Exceeds $10 Billion Mark

Fannie Mae has announced that its acquisition volume of specially-targeted Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) loans exceeded the $10 billion threshold in the second quarter of 2001--more than one and a half years ahead of its originally projected target. In 1999, Fannie Mae pledged to purchase up to $10 billion in CRA loans by the end of 2002. Fannie Mae has announced that its acquisition volume of specially-targeted Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) loans exceeded the $10 billion threshold in the second quarter of 2001--more than one and a half years ahead of its originally projected target. In 1999, Fannie Mae pledged to purchase up to $10 billion in CRA loans by the end of 2002. "Fannie Mae will buy CRA loans from lenders' portfolios, package them into securities, purchase CRA mortgages at the point of origination and create customized CRA-targeted securities," says Jamie Gorelick, vice chair of Fannie Mae. "This expanded approach has improved liquidity in the secondary market for CRA product and has helped our lenders leverage even more CRA lending. Lenders now have the flexibility to use their own, customized loan products." Through Fannie Mae's American Dream Commitment, the company has pledged to transact more than $20 billion in specially-targeted CRA business and finance more than $500 billion in CRA business by the end of the decade. Throughout the decade, an estimated one-third of loans financed by Fannie Mae will meet Fannie Mae's CRA business goal.