The growth of mortgage real estate investment trusts over the last several years has been driven by high market returns and changes in the MBS and mortgage markets, according to a new sector analysis by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts reported that total mortgage REIT capitalization jumped to $43.0 billion at year-end 2011 from just $1.6 billion in 2000. Since the start of 2012, the combined market REIT capitalization has gone up to $55.0 billion, the group noted. The only setback to the growth trend occurred in 2008 as a result of the collapse of...