Last year’s 19 percent drop in mortgage originations was spread remarkably evenly among the 50 states, a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking of state mortgage activity reveals. Nevertheless, Texas led the nation by posting only a small 4.6 percent decline in volume A look at recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data reveals that the drop in mortgage activity between 1999 and 2000 was felt by all states. However, some markets clearly fared better in