The offering is part of a multiyear initiative to facilitate energy-saving improvements
Freddie Mac has announced enhancements to its GreenCHOICE Mortgages energy-efficient offerings, including broader financing options to help families with lower incomes reduce home-utility costs through energy-saving home repairs and improvements.
Through the offerings, Freddie Mac will be able to better assess mortgage-loan performance between homes with energy-efficient enhancements and those without. Freddie Mac will carry out additional research to help develop and design valuation guidance and uniform data collection mechanisms as well as underwriting guidelines to account for energy-efficient features.
To increase understanding of energy-efficient features, Freddie Mac has built strategic alliances with organizations such as the Rocky Mountain Institute, RESNET, the Institute for Market Transformation, and the Department of Energy. Freddie Mac said the alliances also allow it to provide lenders, real estate professionals, and borrowers with tools and education.
“Older homes tend to be more energy inefficient, which may raise the cost of homeownership and may make them more difficult to maintain,” said Mike Dawson, vice president of single-family affordable lending strategy and policy at Freddie Mac. “GreenCHOICE Mortgages is part of a multiyear initiative to facilitate energy-saving improvements that could help families better sustain homeownership. Freddie Mac is committed to making mortgage lenders and real estate agents aware of these products and the value they bring to the housing market.”
