Qualify More Borrowers: Updated AMI Limits Released
Reach more borrowers with more savings. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently issued updated area median income (AMI) limits for 2024, with a majority of the areas showing an increase over 2023. This means you may be able to offer even more flexibility and affordable lending opportunities to your borrowers.
As announced in Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide (Guide) Bulletin 2024-C, the new AMI limits will be effective on May 19, 2024, and will be reflected in Loan Product Advisor® (LPA℠) and in other eligibility tools including:
- Home Possible® Income and Property Eligibility Tool.
- Refi Possible® Income and Property Eligibility Tool.
- Area Median Income and Property Eligibility Tool.
- Income Limits & Affordable Check application programming interfaces (APIs).
Freddie Mac uses AMI limits to determine whether a borrower’s area median income percent (AMI%) meets program requirements for Home Possible®, Refi Possible®, and HFA Advantage® mortgages, as well as certain Duty to Serve offerings. The AMI limits are also used to determine whether a loan is eligible for credit fee caps and credits, if applicable, including mortgages to first-time homebuyers, as described on Exhibit 19, Credit Fees, and Exhibit 19A, Credit Fee Cap Eligibility Criteria.
Certain Freddie Mac affordable lending programs use AMI limits and are as follows:
- Home Possible Eligibility: income must be less than or equal to 80% of the AMI for the location of the mortgaged premises.
- Refi Possible Eligibility: income must be less than or equal to 100% of the AMI for the location of the mortgaged premises.
- HFA Advantage Eligibility: lenders who participate in an HFA program should consult the HFA’s website for income eligibility and associated pricing of their HFA Advantage offerings.
LPA will apply the new AMI limits for Home Possible loan submissions and resubmissions as follows:
- If the mortgaged premises is in a county where the AMI has decreased and you submitted the loan before May 19, LPA will apply the higher 2023 AMI so that the loan will remain eligible if there are no changes in the borrower’s circumstance, no changes in the property condition and the loan was originally an eligible Home Possible mortgage.
- If the mortgaged premises is in a county where the AMI has increased and you submitted the loan before May 19, LPA will apply the higher 2024 AMI in determining eligibility for Home Possible mortgages.
Additional Information
- 2024 AMI Spreadsheet: Includes AMI, low-income AMI, very low-Income AMI and highlights the amount of change from 2023 in addition to the number of tracts by county.
- 2024 AMI Counties by State Spreadsheet: Includes AMI, low-income AMI, very low-income AMI and highlights the amount of change from 2023 in addition to the number of tracts by county, separated out by state.
- 2024 AMI with Tract Indicators Spreadsheet: Includes AMI, low-income AMI, very low-income AMI and various tract indicators by county, in addition to a comparison to prior years.
- 2024 Median Family Income (MFI) Raw File: Raw MFI file with territories included.
- 2024 MFI Read Me File: File provided by the FHFA that explains the raw MFI file.
For More Information
- Read Guide Bulletin 2024-C.
- Contact your Freddie Mac representative or the Customer Support Contact Center (800-FREDDIE).
- Log into Developer Portal and check out our growing catalog of APIs that can help your business throughout the loan production process.