What 4,370 Trades Deals Reveal About Small-Balance Leverage in 2026
New SBA 7(a) analysis: acquisition volume rose 73% through a near-doubling of rates. The read-across for the $1M–$5M multifamily bridge market.
Commentary, deal stories, and structural guidance from a team that talks to 100+ banks and dozens of institutional private lenders every week.
Nearly 39% of 2026's $76.6B in CMBS hard maturities lands in Q4. For a $1M–$5M multifamily sponsor, the binding constraint won't be whether the deal pencils — it will be queue position. Why a September-to-February maturity means your refinance starts in July.
June's headline CMBS delinquency rate fell 20 bps — but multifamily rose, and the fastest-growing cohort is loans past maturity still current on interest. What that means for the $1M–$5M takeout window.
The June 2026 hawkish Fed flip broke the 'bridge now, refi cheaper later' trade for small-balance multifamily. The proceeds gap, traced.
The ROAD to Housing Act's institutional single-family cap doesn't touch multifamily — what a sponsor should actually underwrite around is the capital behind it.
Ground-up multifamily construction financing in 2026: starts hit a 15-year low, the supply window is real but geographic, and the honest counter-case.
Sizing a bridge exit into Freddie's Conventional Small: the 1.25x DSCR test — not LTV — caps your proceeds. A traced example of the gap and how to close it.
The 2026 maturity wall for the $1M–$5M multifamily owner: why agency alone doesn't close the proceeds gap, and how bridge and preferred equity do.
The small-balance refi gap: when a value-add bridge matures into 2026 rates, DSCR — not LTV — caps your Freddie SBL takeout. A traced hypothetical example.
A closed $5.55M Newark multifamily bridge loan anchors a candid read on the 2026 market — rates, who's lending, and when bridge is the right tool.