According to the locally-based Mortgage Bankers Association'smost recent figures, the GSEs and Ginnie Mae hold the largest shareof multifamily mortgages outstanding, as of the fourth quarter--34%of the pool, with $136 billion in federally related mortgage poolsand $148 billion in their own portfolios. GSEs also saw the largestincrease in their holdings of apartment mortgage debt, of $21billion, or 17%.

"While some sectors such as CMBS slowed down in the second halfof 2007 compared to the second half of 2006," says Jamie Woodwell,senior director of research for commercial/multifamily for locallybased MBA. "Fannie and Freddie were running 50% ahead of what theyhad in 2006--there was certainly strong origination volume there inthe second half of the year. Additionally, counter to what we'vebeen hearing, the fourth quarter actually saw record increases inthe amount of multifamily mortgage debt outstanding, and about 88%of that came from the GSEs--be it through their portfolios ormortgage-backed securities."

Indeed, Real Capital Analytics reports that between the firstand second halves of last year, Wall Street reduced its financingfor apartment properties by 85%, international banks by 59%,national banks by 64%, regional banks by 59%, financialinstitutions by 37% and insurance companies by 67%. Conversely,government agencies upped their multifamily financing by a whopping103%.