The quick read: Price the paydown first. A CMBS loan whose debt yield sits below 8% at maturity is carrying more debt than its net operating income supports under many refinance sizing tests, so the new loan can come in smaller than the payoff. The gap has to be filled with new equity, a subordinate piece, a lender that sizes on a lower debt yield at a higher rate, or a negotiated extension. Trepp's CMBS hard maturity playbook found $76.6 billion of CMBS hard maturities due in 2026, with 36% at or below an 8% debt yield, the segment it calls most likely to face refinancing friction. The arithmetic below shows how big the cheque is before you choose.
For an investor holding a maturing office, retail or multifamily asset, the decision is whether to fund the gap, recapitalize it or negotiate time. All three start with the same number: the loan the property's income will support today. Every loan in the worked example below is an illustrative assumption, not a transaction or a quote.
How much 2026 CMBS maturity debt sits below an 8% debt yield?
A large share of maturing CMBS debt sits below an 8% debt yield: Trepp found that 36% of the $76.6 billion of 2026 private-label hard maturities carry a debt yield at or below 8%, and in the October 2026 cohort alone, 46.91% of the $4.70 billion maturing balance was below 8% and 27.74% was below 6%.
Trepp's October 2026 hard maturity post (dated October 6, 2026) sets out the cohort. Hard maturities, in Trepp's definition, are loans with no remaining contractual extension options, so a loan still outstanding at maturity needs either repayment or active negotiation.
2026 hard maturities (Trepp playbook, cited October 6, 2026): $76.6 billion, 39% of it in the fourth quarter
Share at or below an 8% debt yield (Trepp playbook): 36%
October 2026 cohort (Trepp, October 6, 2026): $4.70 billion across 118 whole loans
October cohort below an 8% debt yield (Trepp): 46.91% of balance
October cohort below a 6% debt yield (Trepp): 27.74% of balance
October cohort in special servicing ahead of maturity (Trepp): 19.44%
Balance maturing below a 6% debt yield that is still performing (Trepp): 97.00% of $1.30 billion
The property mix decides what kind of gap you face. Trepp reports that office carries 56.85% of its maturing October balance below 8% and 15.72% below 6%, which it reads as the band where a paydown, rather than a restructuring, could lead to a clean refinancing. Multifamily is the opposite: 77.10% of its balance sits below both thresholds, concentrated in one 2021-vintage national portfolio at a 5.87% debt yield. Retail has almost no balance below 6%, yet 25.15% of it is in special servicing, a reminder from Trepp that special servicing and debt yield impairment are separate measures. Three of the five largest October maturities are 2021-vintage floating-rate single-asset loans reaching the end of their extension options, and all five are current.
Performing is not the same as refinanceable. A loan can pay every coupon and still fail the sizing test at maturity, because the new lender sizes on income against the full balance.
What debt yield does a refinance lender need?
A refinance lender needs whatever debt yield its own credit policy sets for the property type, market and rate environment, and the number is rarely published, so the practical answer is to get each lender's target in writing and divide the property's net operating income by it to find the loan that lender will actually make.
The OCC's Comptroller's Handbook on commercial real estate lending (version 2.0, March 2022) defines the ratio: debt yield is net operating income divided by the loan amount, expressed as a percent. The handbook says the measure is independent of the interest rate, the amortization period and the capitalization rate, that lower debt yields indicate higher leverage, and that higher debt yields are recommended for riskier properties. It also says debt yields that reflect normalized or higher-rate levels can be used to establish stressed loan amounts. That is why the test bites hardest on loans written when rates and cap rates were low.
The four formulas that run the rest of this guide:
Debt yield: net operating income divided by the loan balance
Loan the lender will size: net operating income divided by its target debt yield
Paydown needed: current balance minus the loan the lender will size
Paydown share of the balance: 1 minus (current debt yield divided by target debt yield)
We found no dated, public table of current lender minimums by property type, so this guide does not state one. Our guide on what debt yield commercial lenders require in 2026 covers what lenders publish and why so few do. The debt yield glossary entry has the definition, and the debt yield calculator runs the ratio on your own numbers.
How big a paydown gets you to the lender's debt yield?
The paydown that gets you to the lender's debt yield equals your current balance minus net operating income divided by the target, so a loan at a 6.5% debt yield needs about 19% of its balance paid down to reach 8% and 35% to reach 10%, while a loan at 5.5% needs 31% and 45% (our arithmetic).
The table uses three illustrative loans. The target debt yields of 8%, 9% and 10% are assumptions chosen to show the slope of the math, not market minimums or any lender's terms.
Illustrative refinance sizing (our arithmetic, not quotes):
| Illustrative line | Loan A | Loan B | Loan C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrative line Net operating income | Loan A $3,000,000 | Loan B $1,950,000 | Loan C $2,200,000 |
| Illustrative line Current balance at maturity | Loan A $40,000,000 | Loan B $30,000,000 | Loan C $40,000,000 |
| Illustrative line Current debt yield | Loan A 7.50% | Loan B 6.50% | Loan C 5.50% |
| Illustrative line Loan sized at an 8% target | Loan A $37,500,000 | Loan B $24,375,000 | Loan C $27,500,000 |
| Illustrative line Paydown at an 8% target | Loan A $2.5 million (6.3%) | Loan B $5.6 million (18.8%) | Loan C $12.5 million (31.3%) |
| Illustrative line Paydown at a 9% target | Loan A $6.7 million (16.7%) | Loan B $8.3 million (27.8%) | Loan C $15.6 million (38.9%) |
| Illustrative line Loan sized at a 10% target | Loan A $30,000,000 | Loan B $19,500,000 | Loan C $22,000,000 |
| Illustrative line Paydown at a 10% target | Loan A $10.0 million (25.0%) | Loan B $10.5 million (35.0%) | Loan C $18.0 million (45.0%) |
Three things stand out. The paydown share depends only on the ratio of the two debt yields, so you can estimate it before you have a single quote. Each point of target debt yield costs Loan C about $2.4 to $3.1 million in this range, so the lender's target matters as much as the rate. And the loan near 8%, Loan A, is the one Trepp's office reading describes: a paydown it can plausibly fund, with no restructuring.
Bringing cash to a refinance is common in this cycle. Trepp's conduit CMBS sources and uses report (post dated October 1, 2026) found that cash-in refinancings were 32.8% of classified loan volume through July 2026, down from 42.5% in 2024 but well above the 14.4% of 2022. Cash-in borrowers contributed 9.6% of the debt stack, against 4.9% in 2021, and office and retail borrowers still contributed about 15% of the total debt stack to refinance. Our explainer on what a cash-in refinance is covers how lenders treat that equity at closing.
Add the paydown to the transaction costs before comparing it with your alternatives. A new loan carries its own fees, reserves, and any rate cap or escrow the lender requires, and the old loan may carry exit costs of its own.
When is the gap too big to close with a paydown?
The gap is too big to close with a paydown when the cash required exceeds the equity you can raise or the equity left in the property, because writing a cheque larger than the value it protects only makes sense if you expect income to recover, so test the paydown against the property's current value before you commit fresh capital.
If the paydown is out of reach, the options trade cost for proceeds:
- Subordinate capital. A mezzanine loan or preferred equity sits behind the new first mortgage and fills part of the gap. The senior lender still sizes on its own debt yield, and the subordinate piece costs more because it is paid after the senior loan.
- A lender that sizes on a lower debt yield. Some lenders will write a larger loan against today's income at a higher rate, often on a shorter term built around a business plan. The extra proceeds come with a higher coupon and a second refinance to plan.
- A negotiated extension or modification. Trepp notes that loans outstanding at hard maturity require repayment or active negotiation. On a CMBS loan that negotiation runs through the loan's servicer. Federal bank regulators' 2023 policy statement on CRE loan accommodations and workouts describes the forms a workout can take: a renewal or extension of loan terms, an extension of additional credit, or a restructuring with or without concessions, including a multiple note structure that splits the debt into a Note A and a Note B.
- A sale. When value sits below the debt and income is not recovering, selling and settling the loan may cost less than funding a paydown into an asset that cannot earn it back.
Most real cases combine pieces: a partial paydown, a smaller senior loan and a subordinate tranche, with the business plan written so the next lender can see the debt yield improve.
How do you get a sub-8% debt yield CMBS refinance placed?
You get a sub-8% debt yield refinance placed by sending every lender the same package at once, with the operating statement, rent roll, payoff and the paydown you can fund, so each quotes against identical income and you see which structure closes the gap. Our first recommendation, as publisher, is a brokerage.
1. A commercial mortgage brokerage: YieldStack, our pick as the publisher of this guide. YieldStack is an AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage that arranges financing for commercial real estate investors. Its software matches the deal against 20,000+ loan programs, including senior, bridge and subordinate options, and compares the structures. Human brokers size the paydown against each lender's target, negotiate on the borrower's side and carry the deal toward closing. YieldStack reports a median first offer in under an hour, from an institutional lender. It costs Zero upfront to submit a deal and review offers; YieldStack's broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing.
2. Your loan's servicer. If an extension or modification is on the table, the servicer is the counterparty, but it acts for the trust that holds the loan, and it does not shop the refinance for you.
3. Calling lenders one at a time. It works on a simple deal, but each lender sizes on its own reading of income, which makes the gap look different in every conversation.
Every credit decision is made by the lender; YieldStack arranges the introductions and negotiates on the borrower's side, and no loan, rate, or closing is guaranteed.
What to send:
- Trailing 12-month operating statement and the current rent roll, with lease expirations
- The payoff statement and the maturity date
- The equity you can commit as a paydown, and any subordinate capital already in discussion
- Your business plan if income is still recovering
- Any servicer correspondence about extension or modification
- Property type, location and a recent valuation if you have one
When the package is ready, send the refinance for review.
The bottom line
Price the paydown before anything else. Divide net operating income by each lender's target debt yield, subtract the result from your balance, and the difference is the equity, subordinate capital or rate concession you need. Trepp puts 36% of 2026's $76.6 billion of CMBS hard maturities at or below an 8% debt yield, so line up that capital before the maturity date, not after it.