Real estate investment trusts that focus on the residential MBS market reported a modest decline in agency MBS holdings during the third quarter, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. A group of 17 large, publicly traded mortgage REITs held a combined $217.24 billion of agency MBS at the end of September, down 1.2 percent from the mid-year mark. But the decline was largely due to shuffling in the ranks that resulted in two firms exiting the business. Annaly Capital Management completed...[Includes one data table]