Housing Affordability Act
The Housing Affordability Act would raise and automatically index the size limits for multifamily loan programs under Title II of the National Housing Act. Starting July 1, 2025, the bill requires the dollar amounts that cap FHA-insured multifamily loans (and related program limits) to be adjusted each year based on the percentage change in the Price Deflator Index of Multifamily Residential Units Under Construction, as reported by the Census. The adjustments would be published in the Federal Register and rounded down to the nearest dollar. In addition, the bill updates many specific loan-limit figures across several sections (e.g., Sec. 206A, 207, 213, 220, 221, 231, and 234) to new, higher levels, reflecting this inflation-adjusted approach. In short, the bill aims to make multifamily loan limits more responsive to market costs and construction prices, reducing the risk that limits become out of date and thereby supporting the availability of financing for affordable multifamily housing.
Key Points
- 1Automatic annual adjustment mechanism:
- 2- Beginning July 1, 2025, the “Dollar Amounts” governing multifamily loan limits will be adjusted by the Secretary using the percentage change in the Price Deflator Index of Multifamily Residential Units Under Construction (Census data, March-to-March).
- 3- Adjustments must be published in the Federal Register and rounded down to the nearest dollar.
- 4Scope of changes:
- 5- The statute amends Title II of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1707 et seq.), affecting several sections related to loan limits and insured multifamily programs.
- 6- Specific sections affected include 206A, 207(c)(3)(A), 213(b)(2), 220(d)(3)(B)(iii)(I), 221(d)(4)(ii)(I), 231(c)(2)(A), and 234(e)(3)(A).
- 7Illustrative increases:
- 8- The bill substitues many existing dollar limits with substantially higher figures. Examples (showing the scale of change from the bill text) include replacing old amounts with new figures such as:
- 9- In 207(c)(3)(A): replacing figures like 38,025 with 167,310; 42,120 with 185,328; 50,310 with 221,364; and higher thresholds up to 375,443.
- 10- Similar substantial increases appear across sections 213(b)(2), 220(d)(3)(B)(iii)(I), 221(d)(4)(ii)(I), 231(c)(2)(A), and 234(e)(3)(A).
- 11- These changes indicate a broad upward adjustment of loan caps and related limits for multiple multifamily loan programs.
- 12Purpose and intent:
- 13- By tying limits to a construction-focused price deflator, the bill intends to keep loan caps aligned with rising construction costs and inflation, supporting continued access to financing for new and existing affordable multifamily housing.