Even though the collapse in the mortgage market took down some bigger lenders structured as real estate investment trusts, the surviving REITs have emerged stronger and some are edging back into originations. Market capitalization for the sector has surged, from about $1.6 billion in 2000 to $36.1 billion (residential) as of May 31, 2011, according to a new report by analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods. But there have been some pretty big sinkholes along the way, with Thornburg Mortgage and New Century forced to shutter their operations. Their demise represented a combined loss of...