Freddie Mac announced Wednesday it closed a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit fund with CAHEC and initiated several investments within the fund, totaling $50 million, for affordable rental housing in the Middle Appalachia area of the U.S.

This closing marks the sixth LIHTC fund that Freddie has closed since re-entering the market last year.

This is the first fund managed by CAHEC, which will invest in the creation and preservation of affordable rental housing, according to a release from the GSE. The fund will focus on transactions in typically underserved areas, such as rural communities and developments that provide supportive services.

So far, the fund has provided $50 million in targeted affordable housing investments, supporting 411 units of LIHTC housing across eight properties, including three in North Carolina, two in Tennessee, two in Kentucky and one in West Virginia, Freddie Mac said in a release.

“Freddie Mac is proud to partner with CAHEC as a LIHTC syndicator, and our fund is already supporting affordable housing in rural and underserved markets,” said David Leopold, Freddie Mac's VP of Targeted Affordable Sales & Investments. “From Middle Appalachia to rural North Carolina, the investments we are making will help upgrade housing stock while preserving affordability for low-income individuals and families in need of decent places to live.”

Freddie Mac explained in a release that it developed its proprietary fund with CAHEC because of the company’s “deep expertise with the LIHTC program, its commitment to serving communities in need, and its ability to support Freddie Mac’s mission of delivering liquidity and stability to underserved markets.”

“CAHEC is thrilled to partner with Freddie Mac as a conduit for furthering their LIHTC equity investment goals,” said Dana Boole, president and CEO. “Synergy with our respective missions, outlooks on affordable housing, commitment toward 'duty to serve' communities and our vibrant corporate cultures, were all drivers to creating, and now furthering, this thriving relationship.”