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Housing New Mexico reports full awards for early trust-fund tranches, describes $8 billion bond program and pipeline of 5,200 units
Summary
Housing New Mexico told the Legislative Oversight Committee it has awarded most early Housing Trust Fund dollars and is balancing tax-exempt and taxable bond strategies to stretch private activity volume cap; officials reported about 5,200 multifamily units under construction and $102 million newly available from a blended 2025 bond series.
Housing New Mexico officials on Sept. 17 told the Legislature’s oversight committee that the agency — legally still the Mortgage Finance Authority but rebranded this year — has awarded the majority of its early Housing Trust Fund allocations and is adapting its financing strategy to current market conditions.
"We rebranded to Housing New Mexico as we believe it better describes what we do," said Izzy Hernandez of Housing New Mexico, noting the agency’s history since its creation April 10, 1975. Hernandez told lawmakers the authority now administers 45 programs that span homelessness to homeownership and has assisted "over 505,000 families." He said the trust fund received a first allocation of $37.5 million in July 2023, a $34.6 million allocation in July 2024, a special $50 million appropriation effective July 1, 2024, and a most-recent allocation just under $45 million in July. He told the committee award totals so far amount to about $137 million out of $166 million in those tranches and that the authority is meeting encumbrance and leverage requirements established in statute.
The agency also reported a substantial development pipeline. "We currently have 56 different multifamily projects ... 41 of those are in construction — that's just under 5,200 units," Hernandez said, adding those developments represent about $415 million of combined funding and will support local income and jobs during construction.
On financing, Arundhati Bose, Housing New Mexico’s chief financial officer, said the authority has issued roughly $8 billion in mortgage revenue bonds across 167 issues and expects near $474 million in total bond issuance for fiscal year 2026, of which about $214 million would use private-activity volume cap; the remainder would be taxable or replacement refundings. External advisors participating remotely cautioned that demand for private-activity volume cap is strong nationwide, which has pushed some HFAs to issue taxable bonds to preserve cap for multifamily projects.
"We have been able to offer lower mortgage rates to first-time homebuyers than the market historically," David Jones of CSG Advisors told the committee, describing how the authority evaluates when to access tax-exempt bonds versus the TBA (to-be-announced) market. Mina Chu of RBC Capital Markets said the 2025 Series E and F included a blended tax-exempt and taxable structure that made approximately $102 million available to acquire new mortgages for first-time moderate-income buyers. She also noted retail participation and that Freddie Mac purchased taxable series for the first time since conservatorship.
Committee members pressed presenters on market risks. Representative Maryann Matthews asked how 5,200 units translate to people housed; Hernandez used New Mexico’s household size estimate (about 2.4 persons per household) to project roughly 10,000–11,000 residents might be served. Members also asked whether rising local property taxes and higher development costs could squeeze projects; presenters said they stress-test deals, require documentation and flexibility in structuring, and blend taxable issuance where required to stretch cap.
The authority said it is monitoring pipeline and programmatic metrics and will provide legislators additional distribution maps, award lists and updated projections as requested. The committee did not take any formal votes during the presentation.
