Avanath's Daryl Carter

Fannie’s and Freddie’s Problems Will:

A strong majority of last week’s Quick Poll respondents (66%) believe Fannie and Freddie’s problems will “Hurt the Multifamily Sector,” versus 34% who say the problems will “Have Little Impact.” Daryl Carter, chief executive officer of Avanath Capital Partners, places himself among the minority of those taking the poll.

I’d say no impact. I think they will survive this, and I think multifamily is a key part of their business, and I think they will adjust overall. They have done a great job at providing liquidity in the multifamily market. It’s probably the best risk-adjusted business that they have.

Certainly I think there have been issues with Fannie and Freddie over the last two or three years and I think that ultimately the current set of issues have a more immediate focus, but I do think that they are going to survive as an entity. However, I think ultimately, they may face a higher degree of regulatory scrutiny.

They provide affordable housing and meet a lot of affordable housing initiatives that I think are important. They are a key part of that sector, in which they have not been participating much in the last six to 12 months. They used to be big buyers of low income tax credits. So, I would say the low-income housing tax credit market has been very, very much impacted by not only Fannie and Freddie, but by a lot of the other big banks, especially if you consider that low income accounts for roughly one-third of multifamily starts.

But I would say the other parts of the multifamily market will weather this well, and my premise for that is Freddie and Fannie surviving as entities. And if you consider the business plans of Freddie and Fannie going forward, I still think the multifamily business will be a part of what they do.