Weekly Real Estate News
Adamas Trust, the mortgage real estate investment trust formerly known as New York Mortgage Trust, reported a 21.9% decline in GAAP book value per common share during the third quarter of 2026, illustrating how quickly interest-rate volatility can affect leveraged mortgage investments.
In results released October 28 for the quarter ended September 30, Adamas said book value per share declined to $7.93. Adjusted book value fell 19.6% to $8.88 per share, while the quarterly economic return was negative 19%.
Agency securities drive valuation pressure
Chief Executive Jason Serrano attributed the adjusted book-value decline primarily to lower valuations for the company’s agency mortgage securities amid rising rates and market volatility. The company said it managed spread and convexity exposure through short positions in to-be-announced agency securities and subsequently reduced those hedges after quarter-end.
Adamas reported a GAAP loss of $1.89 per common share. Earnings available for distribution, a non-GAAP measure, totaled $0.30 per share, up 25% from a year earlier. That figure matched the declared quarterly common dividend of $0.30 per share, but it is not the same as GAAP earnings.
Capital-market implications
Mortgage REIT book values can change sharply as financing costs, security prices and hedging results shift. The Adamas results are a company-specific measure of portfolio performance, not evidence that mortgage borrowers are defaulting at a comparable rate or that the entire mortgage-backed securities market suffered equivalent losses.
The company reported a company economic recourse leverage ratio of 4.8 times and portfolio economic recourse leverage of 4.4 times. Its results underscore the sensitivity of mortgage investment strategies to interest-rate movements and mortgage-backed securities spreads.
Source: Adamas Trust October 28 Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1; Adamas investor website.
