In the first half of 2010, Fannie Mae provided $5.9 billion in investments to the multifamily rental housing market, according to a semiannual report released Tuesday.

“In today’s constrained market, Fannie Mae and our Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) lender partners remain diligent about providing much needed liquidity and stability,” said Kenneth Bacon, EVP of the

company’s housing and community development division. “Despite challenged fundamentals, we are beginning to see an uptick in commitment activity and continue to manage credit risk by maintaining prudent lending standards and asset quality for new loans. Fannie Mae’s commitment to sustainability and support of the DUS lenders help us in our efforts to stabilize the market.”

The multifamily unit at Fannie Mae said it has bolstered mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issuance since focusing its efforts on securitization and broadening the investor base in 2009. The company currently provides liquidity to the multifamily market mainly through MBS issuance. Of the $5.9 billion invested in the first of this year, $5.5 billion was delivered through MBS execution.

Fannie Mae said it provides more liquidity to the multifamily market than any other financial institution in the country and continues to serve housing needs of low- to middle-income Americans. In fact, roughly 90 percent of the rental units financed in the first half of 2010 were for low- and moderate-income families.