By Bob Dougherty, Buchanan Street Partners

Got answers about the future of the capital markets? Bob Dougherty has questions.

BY Bob Dougherty, Buchanan Street Partners

The multi-housing market owes an extraordinary debt of gratitude to government-sponsored enterprises, whose outsize presence in the market has been monumental in fueling its growth and, more recently, its revival from the depths of the credit markets crisis. Yet while the GSEs have never played a larger role in financing apartment communities, many are questioning their usefulness, the necessity of their mandate for the future, and whether we as a nation can afford the costs of a federal hand (or handout) in housing finance.