In a recent Seeking Alpha article I spoke of why a diversified portfolio of Mortgage mREITs should still be part of an income or dividend-focused investor’s portfolio. The Agency mREIT sector still has some landmines to navigate – or at least potholes – notably any policy changes from Washington DC or any surge in prepayments as barriers to refinancing from HARP or other programs begin to fall. While the major banks are not in a position to handle a surge in refinancings, any blip up is likely to spook investors, even if it is temporary.

Aside from a few spikes down/up in 2009, the hybrid mREITs have actually been less volatile around their mean price-to-book than the agency mREITs.