The quick read: In October 2026 the Treasury yields behind fixed multifamily quotes fell about a third of a point, while SOFR, the index behind floating bridge and bank loans, edged up. According to FRED, the 10-year Treasury yield went from 5.29% on September 30 to 4.98% on October 29, the 5-year from 5.09% to 4.78%, and SOFR from 3.90% to 3.95% on October 30. The Treasury's daily par yield curve put the 10-year at 4.94% on October 30. The Federal Reserve held its policy rate: its October 28 statement opens, "The Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-3/4 to 4 percent, in support of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate." Fixed agency (GSE), bank and life-company benchmarks got cheaper in October; the floating benchmark stayed where September left it.
How did each multifamily lender type's index move in October 2026?
The Treasury yields behind fixed multifamily quotes fell 0.31 to 0.32 points on FRED between September 30 and October 29, 2026, while SOFR, the index behind floating loans, rose 0.05 points through October 30. The table reads every level from its FRED series page and prints the observation date beside it.
The index column describes common practice in multifamily lending, not a figure from a published spread series. Each term sheet names its own index and term, so read yours before relying on a row.
Multifamily benchmark moves by lender type, October 2026 (source: FRED)
| Lender type | Index it commonly prices off | FRED series | Level on 2026-09-30 | Latest October level (date) | October change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender type Agency (GSE) fixed | Index it commonly prices off Treasury matched to term, often 10-year | FRED series DGS10 | Level on 2026-09-30 5.29% | Latest October level (date) 4.98% (2026-10-29) | October change down 0.31 pts |
| Lender type Bank fixed | Index it commonly prices off Treasury matched to term, often 5-year | FRED series DGS5 | Level on 2026-09-30 5.09% | Latest October level (date) 4.78% (2026-10-29) | October change down 0.31 pts |
| Lender type Bank floating | Index it commonly prices off SOFR (some banks use prime) | FRED series SOFR | Level on 2026-09-30 3.90% | Latest October level (date) 3.95% (2026-10-30) | October change up 0.05 pts |
| Lender type Debt fund / bridge | Index it commonly prices off SOFR | FRED series SOFR | Level on 2026-09-30 3.90% | Latest October level (date) 3.95% (2026-10-30) | October change up 0.05 pts |
| Lender type Life company fixed | Index it commonly prices off Treasury matched to term, 7- to 10-year | FRED series DGS7 | Level on 2026-09-30 5.19% | Latest October level (date) 4.87% (2026-10-29) | October change down 0.32 pts |
The direction is the finding. Every Treasury benchmark a fixed multifamily lender commonly uses ended October lower than it started, and the overnight index behind floating loans ended slightly higher. A borrower comparing a fixed quote with a floating one in early November is comparing two benchmarks that moved in opposite directions over the same month.
The month-end tape, with each observation date
The month-end readings below come from FRED where FRED had posted the day, and from the Treasury's daily par yield curve for October 30, because FRED's 5-, 7- and 10-year Treasury series still ended at October 29 when this page was read on November 2, 2026.
10-year Treasury, FRED DGS10 (2026-10-29): 4.98%
7-year Treasury, FRED DGS7 (2026-10-29): 4.87%
5-year Treasury, FRED DGS5 (2026-10-29): 4.78%
10-year Treasury, Treasury daily par yield curve (2026-10-30): 4.94%
7-year Treasury, Treasury daily par yield curve (2026-10-30): 4.80%
5-year Treasury, Treasury daily par yield curve (2026-10-30): 4.71%
SOFR, FRED (2026-10-30): 3.95%
Federal funds target range after the October 28 statement: 3-3/4 to 4 percent, maintained
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's daily par yield curve shows the same 4.98% 10-year reading for October 29 that FRED does, and, in its September 2026 table, the same 5.29% for September 30, so the two sources line up. Measured month-end to month-end on the Treasury's curve, the 10-year fell 0.35 points, the 7-year 0.39 points and the 5-year 0.38 points.
Why did fixed and floating multifamily benchmarks move in opposite directions?
Fixed and floating multifamily benchmarks split in October 2026 because they answer to different markets: SOFR is an overnight funding rate that trades inside the Fed's target range, which the Committee left unchanged, while 5-, 7- and 10-year Treasury yields are set each trading day by investors pricing growth, inflation and future policy.
SOFR stayed in a narrow band all month. Per FRED, its October low was 3.87%, printed on October 1, 8, 9 and 19, and its high was 3.95%, printed on October 27 and October 30. With the target range at 3-3/4 to 4 percent from the first day of the month to the last, there was no policy step for floating loans to absorb. The September 2026 multifamily record shows what a policy step looks like on SOFR; October had none.
The Treasury curve moved on its own schedule. According to FRED, the 10-year yield peaked for the month at 5.31% on October 5, stood at 5.13% on October 21 and printed 4.96% on October 22, a 0.17-point fall in one trading day; the 5-year fell from 4.95% to 4.78% on the same day. Around the Fed meeting, the 10-year read 4.99% on October 27, 5.05% on October 28 and 4.98% on October 29.
The October 28 statement records a 10–2 vote. The two members voting against preferred to raise the target range by 1/4 percentage point at that meeting. That is the published record of the decision; this page does not read it as a signal about the next one. The October 2026 Fed decision record covers the decision across other property types.
What October's Treasury decline did to agency and life-company fixed quotes
A fixed agency (GSE) or life-company multifamily quote is a spread over a Treasury yield of matching term, so October's decline of roughly a third of a point in the 5-, 7- and 10-year yields lowered the benchmark under a quote locked at month-end compared with one locked on September 30, before any change in spread.
Two pieces set the fixed coupon. The benchmark is the Treasury yield on the day the rate locks. The spread is the lender's charge for credit, term and execution, and no public data series cited here publishes current agency (GSE), bank or life-company multifamily spreads, so this page records the benchmark only. A lender can widen or tighten its spread in the same month the benchmark moves, which is why two quotes struck on the same day are the comparison that counts.
Here is the effect of a 0.35-point lower 10-year benchmark on a fixed loan, as an illustrative example only; the coupon is an assumption chosen for the arithmetic, not a quote:
Illustrative fixed loan: $10,000,000, 30-year amortization, assumed 6.00% coupon at the September 30 benchmark
Monthly payment at 6.00%: about $59,955
Monthly payment at 5.65%, same spread over a 10-year yield 0.35 points lower: about $57,724
Annual debt service saved: about $26,800
Loan the same net operating income supports at 1.25x coverage: about $10,390,000 instead of $10,000,000
On a loan sized to a debt service coverage ratio, the lower payment raises the proceeds the same income supports. The multifamily rates page explains how each lender type builds a quote, and the agency loan page covers how agency (GSE) execution works.
What does the split mean for a floating bridge loan with an agency takeout?
For a borrower carrying a floating bridge loan and planning a fixed agency (GSE) takeout, October moved the two legs differently: the bridge loan's SOFR index rose 0.05 points to 3.95%, while the Treasury yield that prices and sizes the permanent loan fell about a third of a point, which improves the takeout math if the property's income has held.
The bridge leg barely changed. As an illustrative example only, a $10,000,000 interest-only floating loan picks up about $5,000 a year of added interest from the 0.05-point SOFR rise at its next reset, under whatever lookback and rounding the note sets. If the loan carries an interest rate cap, compare its strike with the 3.95% SOFR level on October 30; a cap struck above that level has not started paying.
The takeout leg is where October mattered. An agency (GSE) permanent loan is sized on its own coupon, so a lower Treasury benchmark lets the same net operating income support more debt, as the fixed-loan example above shows. That can close the gap between the bridge balance, including any renovation draws, and what the permanent loan will pay off.
Four things decide whether that benefit is reachable now:
- Qualification today. The permanent lender sizes on the property's current income and occupancy history, not the business plan.
- Bridge exit cost. Read the note for an exit fee, minimum interest or a prepayment window.
- Extension terms. If the property needs more time, check the extension tests and the cost of replacing an expiring cap.
- Lock timing. A takeout quote floats with the Treasury until it locks, and no published source says where the benchmark goes next.
Is now the time to move a multifamily bridge loan to fixed-rate debt?
It depends on whether the property qualifies for permanent debt today and on what the bridge loan costs to exit, because October's lower Treasury benchmark helps only a takeout that can lock it; the useful step is seeing agency (GSE), bank and life-company fixed quotes struck on the same date, next to the cost of extending the bridge.
Three ways to get that comparison, with the brokerage route first:
- A commercial mortgage brokerage. YieldStack is an AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage that arranges financing for commercial real estate investors. Its software finds and compares fixed and floating options across lender types, and its deal team structures the request and negotiates spread, lock and prepayment terms on the borrower's side, with a median first offer in under an hour, from an institutional lender. It costs Zero upfront to submit; the broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing.
- Going direct to a single agency (GSE) lender. You see one execution and one lock policy, which makes the cross-type comparison your own work.
- Asking the bridge lender or your bank. Useful for an extension or a balance-sheet loan, though each prices off its own index and term.
Every credit decision is made by the lender; no loan, rate, or closing is guaranteed. To see fixed takeout and bridge extension quotes on your property side by side, submit your multifamily deal for review. The multifamily loan page covers the loan types.
The bottom line
October 2026 lowered the benchmark under fixed multifamily debt and left floating debt where it was. According to FRED, the 10-year Treasury fell from 5.29% on September 30 to 4.98% on October 29 (4.94% on the Treasury's October 30 curve), while SOFR moved from 3.90% to 3.95% with the Fed's target range unchanged at 3-3/4 to 4 percent. Check the index date on every quote before you lock.