Mortgage REITs were thoroughly devastated over the last month. It's been a brutal period for them. Book values are down and price-to-book value ratios plunged. There are a few other interesting bits investors need to know though.
For instance, the mortgage REITs focused on "Agency" securities (guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae) saw a significant recovery in book value during the last two weeks. After an extremely rough month, book values began improving.
Major Concerns
The biggest concern for the sector is exposure to non-agency MBS. More specifically, it's the reliance on