The past year was downright awful for the mortgage industry. Mortgage originators saw volumes decline as refinancing activity waned and homebuyers become more cautious.

Mortgage real estate investment trusts (REITs) got hammered by outsized volatility in the bond market, which depressed book values. This translated into underperformance, which lowers earnings and stock prices and led to higher dividend yields. Some of the yields in the mortgage REIT space approached 20% earlier this year.

Mortgage REIT AGNC Investment (NASDAQ: AGNC) has a mid-teens percentage dividend yield. Is this sustainable? 

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Source Fool.com