Commercial Bridge Loan Rates and Fees in 2026

What are commercial bridge loan rates right now?

Our Current Commercial Loan Rates page still frames bridge debt around 8% to 12% in April 2026. Live market tables are a little wider. Commercial Loan Direct's May 17, 2026 market table shows bridge rates from 5.75% to 12.75% for 6 to 36 month terms, generally with leverage up to 80% LTV on investment property. Lev's bridge-lender roundup puts many bridge quotes around 6% to 12% with 1% to 2% fees, interest-only payments, and 12 to 36 month terms.

That spread tells you something useful. “Commercial bridge loan rates” is not one market. Published bridge ranges cover different property types, leverage levels, and business plans. That is why a low-leverage multifamily value-add deal and a smaller-balance office lease-up can both be called bridge loans while landing on very different terms.

What actually moves a bridge quote?

The fastest way to compare two bridge quotes badly is to treat them like 30-year mortgages. Bridge pricing is a stack. Base rate, spread, leverage, property risk, sponsor strength, and exit credibility all sit on top of each other.

1. Base rate, spread, and whether the quote is really SOFR plus something

The New York Fed publishes SOFR daily as the benchmark cost of overnight Treasury-backed borrowing. AVANA's bridge program gives the borrower-facing version of how this shows up in the real world: 1-month term SOFR plus a 4.50% to 7.00% spread. That means the lender is not just naming a coupon. It is naming an index plus a risk premium.

Floor language matters too. George Smith Partners published a bridge program with pricing at SOFR plus 3.25% and a 0.25% SOFR floor. In May 2026, Commercial Loan Direct's table showed 30-day SOFR at 3.64%, so a low floor like that is not biting today. But the clause still matters. If base rates fall during your hold, the floor can stop your coupon from falling with them.

2. Property type and leverage still change the spread

Not every bridge asset gets the same leverage box. Ready Capital's published bridge program allows up to 75% LTC on core industrial, self-storage, and essential retail, but only up to 65% LTC on non-core office, non-essential retail, and hospitality. That is a useful borrower lesson. Office lease-up does not just sound riskier in a pitch. The leverage box itself can tighten.

3. The lender is really underwriting your exit

AVANA says its program is built around experienced sponsors with a documented refinance, sale, or stabilization plan. That is standard bridge logic. The property matters, but the payoff story matters almost as much. If the lender thinks your permanent takeout, DSCR refinance, or sale timing is soft, the quote usually gets worse before the file ever closes.

Recourse can shift the tradeoff too. AVANA publishes full-recourse guaranties, while Ready Capital publishes non-recourse bridge debt with standard carve-outs on many executions. A quote that looks slightly more expensive on spread can still be the better loan if it materially reduces your downside risk.

Which fees matter most?

Bridge fees are part of the price. A quote that looks 50 basis points cheaper can still be more expensive once the rest of the fee stack shows up.

The practical borrower move is to treat minimum interest as a cousin of a prepayment penalty. The lender may say there is little or no exit fee, but if you owe twelve months of carry no matter what, the loan still has a real early-payoff cost.

What hidden carry costs show up after signing?

This is the part borrowers miss when they compare bridge quotes on a spreadsheet that only has rate and points.

Interest reserves and carry reserves. Ready Capital's published program explicitly includes interest and carry reserves as future advances where needed. That can help a lease-up or transitional deal survive weak in-place cash flow, but it also means more of the capital stack is being used just to carry the loan.

Capex holdbacks. The same Ready Capital program publishes future advances for capital expenditures. That is useful when your business plan depends on unit turns, TI work, or building systems. It is also where borrowers get tripped up. Ask what has to happen before those funds are released, how inspections work, and whether interest accrues on funded dollars only or on the whole committed amount.

Third-party diligence and legal. AVANA says closing speed is largely driven by appraisal, environmental, and property-condition reports. CommLoan's closing-cost guide puts real numbers around that burden: appraisal often runs about $1,000 to $10,000, environmental reports about $2,000 to $6,000+, and title insurance about $2,500 to $15,000, with lender legal often running from a few thousand dollars into five figures on larger executions. None of that shows up in the headline rate.

How do three sample bridge quotes compare?

These are illustrative examples, not market averages. They sit inside the published rate and fee bands above so you can see how the pricing stack changes by deal type.

The lesson is not that land is always 10%+ or office is always worse than multifamily. The lesson is that two quotes can look close on rate and still be far apart on all-in cost once fees, reserves, and exit timing show up.

Why do higher base rates keep bridge exits under pressure?

Commercial Loan Direct's May 17 table showed 30-day SOFR at 3.64% and 90-day SOFR at 3.66%. When your bridge quote is built as SOFR plus a spread, that base rate matters immediately. A spread of 4.50% on top of mid-3s SOFR already puts you in the low-8s before points, reserve drag, or extension cost.

The second pressure point is the exit. If your business plan is a refinance into a commercial mortgage, a DSCR loan, or another permanent execution, the next lender is sizing debt service at a higher payment than borrowers got used to in the near-zero-rate world. That is why bridge borrowers should work backward from the takeout. Use the DSCR calculator, sanity-check the permanent rate on /rates, and read the bridge-to-DSCR refinance guide before you accept the entry quote.

Higher-for-longer does not mean bridge is broken. It means the margin for error is thinner. A delayed lease-up, a weak appraisal, or one unexpected extension month hurts more when the floating base rate never really came back down. That is especially true if your takeout lender also tightens proceeds because DSCR or debt yield sizing comes in below your original underwriting.

What should be on your bridge quote comparison worksheet?

This is the worksheet worth filling out before you pick a lender.

If you want a shortcut, compare the worksheet against the main bridge loans page, then read Bridge vs. Hard Money if the deal is small-balance or unusually rough. A lot of borrowers are comparing two expensive short-term options and trying to understand which one creates less friction at payoff.

Frequently asked questions