With its latest numbers crunched Fannie has found its net worth to be below zero, requiring it to tap $15.2 billion in Treasury aid. Last year it had to request $13.8 billion from Treasury for similar reasons. Indeed the sources of Fannie Mae's balance sheet woes--declining housing market conditions, derivatives and write-downs on MBS--are the same each month; it is only the numbers that are changing, for the worse. Q4 earnings included $12 billion in credit losses, $12.3 billion in losses on derivatives and $4.6 billion in MBS write-downs.

The new figures alarm the multifamily sector, which is already jittery that its main source of capital--the GSEs--may shut down or become even more expensive. Relatively speaking, Fannie and Freddie funding is still coming in at a relatively inexpensive 6%, says one local developer. "But its spread with Treasury is getting wider--it is at an enormous differential right now. To be sure, that is more a reflection of the current market environment than any troubles the GSEs are having, this person tells GlobeSt.com. But it is also a reminder that multifamily developers and borrowers are all but hostage to agency finance right now.

One trend that may well accelerate if Fannie and Freddie continue to register consecutively larger losses is the growing cultivation of HUD financing. Seen by some--in past days--as a more bureaucratic agency, there is anecdotal evidence that capital markets groups and developers are forging new and stronger ties with the multifamily construction financing programs HUD offers.

Late last year HUD introduced a streamlined construction financing program that makes it much faster to receive financing, a local broker tells GlobeSt.com. "I think only a handful of deals have been done under it; we are looking into that right now."