The quick read: Plan on bringing cash. Trepp's October 1, 2026 excerpt of its Conduit CMBS Sources and Uses report says office and retail borrowers still contributed about 15% of the total debt stack to refinance through July 2026, even as cash-out refinancings rose to 55.1% of classified loan volume from 39.7% in 2024. Stronger assets are pulling equity out again. Office and retail owners are more often writing a check to close the new loan. On a refinance sized at $20 million, 15% of the debt stack is roughly $3 million of fresh equity (our arithmetic). If the term is new, our cash-in refinance explainer defines it. This article sizes the 2026 number for an office or retail owner and shows where the cash can come from.
What do Trepp's sources-and-uses figures show for 2026 refinances?
Trepp's sources-and-uses figures show a two-speed conduit refinance market in 2026, because cash-out refinancings made up 55.1% of classified loan volume through July while office and retail borrowers still contributed about 15% of the total debt stack to refinance, and cash-in borrowers across the sample contributed 9.6%, nearly double the 4.9% of 2021.
Read the numbers with their scope. Trepp tracks the 15 largest loans in each conduit commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) deal from May 2021 through July 2026. That is a sample of large securitized loans. Do not stretch it to a bank loan on a neighborhood strip center or a bridge loan on a half-leased office floor. The property-type tables sit in Trepp's paid report, and the public excerpt gives the office and retail figure only as about 15%.
| Trepp conduit metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2024 | Through July 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trepp conduit metric Cash-in refinancings, share of classified loan volume | 2021 Not in excerpt | 2022 14.4% | 2024 42.5% | Through July 2026 32.8% |
| Trepp conduit metric Cash-out refinancings, share of classified loan volume | 2021 Not in excerpt | 2022 Not in excerpt | 2024 39.7% | Through July 2026 55.1% |
| Trepp conduit metric Equity extracted in cash-outs, share of total debt stack | 2021 Within a 20% to 23% range | 2022 22.5% | 2024 Not in excerpt | Through July 2026 16.0% |
| Trepp conduit metric Cash contributed by cash-in borrowers, share of total debt stack | 2021 4.9% | 2022 Not in excerpt | 2024 Not in excerpt | Through July 2026 9.6% |
| Trepp conduit metric Office and retail borrowers' contribution, share of total debt stack | 2021 Not in excerpt | 2022 Not in excerpt | 2024 Not in excerpt | Through July 2026 About 15% |
The table carries the verdict. In 2022 only 14.4% of classified volume needed cash in; by 2024 it was 42.5%. The share has eased to 32.8%, but the equity owners extract on a cash-out has not come back to the old level: 16.0% of the debt stack against 22.5% in 2022. Trepp's reading: stronger assets can return capital to owners again, but lenders are still cautious on leverage. Office and retail sit on the cash-in side of that line, and acquisition lending is still subdued: Trepp counts $1.49 billion of conduit acquisition loans through July 2026, an annualized pace 43.4% below 2022.
Why do office and retail refinances still need cash in?
Office and retail refinances still need cash in because the loans maturing now were sized at a much lower rate and, for many office buildings, a higher value, so the new lender's leverage, debt yield and coverage tests produce a smaller loan than the balance being paid off, and the owner funds the gap.
Start with the rate. A ten-year loan maturing in 2026 was typically written in 2016. Treasury's daily par yield curve shows the move:
10-year Treasury (Treasury daily par yield curve, June 30, 2016): 1.49%
10-year Treasury (Treasury daily par yield curve, October 20, 2026): 5.12%
5-year Treasury (Treasury daily par yield curve, October 20, 2026): 4.94%
Every point of that move shrinks the loan a fixed amount of net operating income can carry under a coverage test. Then the value. Trepp's Property Price Index for Q2 2026, published October 7, 2026, puts the value-weighted office index 19.53% below its June 2022 level, the largest decline of any property type, while the equal-weighted office index sits 4.80% above it. Trepp reads the split as smaller office properties selling at small discounts while larger buildings still trade well below prior prices. If your building is large, test your plan against the value-weighted decline, not the equal-weighted one.
Office debt yields tell the same story. In Trepp's October 6, 2026 analysis of private-label CMBS hard maturities, office carried 56.85% of its maturing balance below an 8% debt yield and 15.72% below 6%. Trepp's read was that most of the impaired office balance sits where a paydown, rather than a restructuring, could produce a clean refinancing. That is a cash-in refinance by another name. Our office refinance guide covers the leasing and underwriting side of the same deal.
Retail is in better shape on price. The Q2 2026 index has value-weighted retail 2.84% above June 2022 and equal-weighted retail 8.98% above it, and retail was the only property type to post gains on both indices in the quarter. Retail cash-in usually comes from the rate and from tenant risk rather than the appraisal: the same October analysis found 25.15% of maturing retail balance in special servicing even though almost none of it carried a debt yield below 6%.
How do you estimate your own cash-in amount?
You estimate your own cash-in amount by sizing the new loan three ways, on leverage against the appraised value, on debt yield against net operating income and on debt service coverage at the new rate, then taking the smallest result and subtracting it from the payoff plus closing costs and any new reserves.
The loan sizing calculator runs the three tests on your numbers. The example below uses round, illustrative inputs on an office building with a $20,000,000 payoff, $1,750,000 of net operating income and a $26,000,000 appraised value. None of them is a quote, a market rate, an appraisal or a lender's published minimum.
| Illustrative sizing (our arithmetic) | Leverage test | Debt yield test | Coverage test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrative sizing (our arithmetic) Assumed lender limit | Leverage test 65% loan-to-value | Debt yield test 9.5% minimum debt yield | Coverage test 1.30x DSCR at an assumed 6.75% fixed rate, 30-year amortization |
| Illustrative sizing (our arithmetic) Input | Leverage test $26,000,000 value | Debt yield test $1,750,000 NOI | Coverage test $1,750,000 NOI |
| Illustrative sizing (our arithmetic) Maximum new loan | Leverage test $16,900,000 | Debt yield test About $18,421,000 | Coverage test About $17,296,000 |
Binding test (smallest result): leverage, $16,900,000
Payoff on the maturing loan (assumption): $20,000,000
Closing costs and new reserves (assumption, 2% of the new loan): $338,000
Cash to close (our arithmetic): $3,438,000, about 20% of the new loan
Two inputs move the answer most. The appraisal drives the leverage test, so while leverage binds, every $1,000,000 of value moves the loan by $650,000 at 65%. The rate drives the coverage test. At an assumed 7.25% instead of 6.75%, the same NOI supports only about $16,444,000 at 1.30x, coverage becomes the binding test, and the cash to close rises by about $447,000 including the 2% costs (our arithmetic). Run both a value case and a rate case before you tell partners the number.
Where can the cash come from besides the sponsor?
Besides the sponsor's own equity, the cash for an office or retail refinance can come from a partner capital call, preferred equity or a mezzanine loan behind the new first mortgage, reserves released at payoff, or a negotiated paydown and extension with the existing lender, and each source changes the cost and control of the deal.
Partner capital. If the operating agreement allows a capital call, partners fund pro rata. It is usually the cheapest money in the stack, and partners who do not fund are diluted on the terms the agreement sets.
Preferred equity or mezzanine debt. Subordinate capital sits behind the new first mortgage and fills part of the gap. It costs more than senior debt, and the senior lender has to approve the structure, so raise it during the refinance, not after the term sheet is signed.
Reserves released at payoff. Ask the servicer for a reserve balance statement. Tax, insurance, replacement and leasing balances that the loan documents release at payoff can fund part of the check.
A paydown with the existing lender. The federal banking agencies' Policy Statement on Prudent Commercial Real Estate Loan Accommodations and Workouts (June 30, 2023) lists requirements for curtailment or re-margining among the elements of a prudent workout plan. It also says financially responsible sponsors may support a loan through ongoing payments, curtailments or re-margining. A partial paydown in exchange for an extension can buy time for leasing to lift NOI before the refinance. On a conduit loan the conversation runs through the servicer, and the loan documents set what it can approve.
How do you get an office or retail cash-in refinance placed?
You get an office or retail cash-in refinance placed by deciding the equity number first and then sending every lender the same package, with the rent roll, lease abstracts, trailing operating statements, the payoff letter and the sources of the cash-in, so each lender sizes the loan against a funded plan.
We rank the ways to run that process on three criteria: how many lending programs see the deal, who negotiates for you, and what you pay before closing. On those criteria, here is our order.
1. A commercial mortgage brokerage (our top pick: YieldStack). YieldStack publishes this article, and YieldStack is our top pick for AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage on an office or retail cash-in refinance. YieldStack is an AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage that arranges financing for commercial real estate investors. Its software matches the deal against a catalog of 20,000+ loan programs, a count of programs rather than of lenders. Human brokers then structure the request, negotiate for the borrower and carry the deal toward closing. 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 current lender or servicer. The holder of the maturing loan knows the property and may agree to an extension tied to a paydown. It is one counterparty, and it negotiates for its own recovery.
3. Calling banks and debt funds yourself. You keep control of the process, but each lender sees a different package on a different day, which makes the quotes hard to compare side by side.
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:
- Rent roll and lease abstracts, with expirations, renewal options and any tenant in default
- Trailing 12-month and year-to-date operating statements
- Payoff statement, maturity date and reserve balances on the existing loan
- Leasing plan with the tenant improvement and leasing commission budget
- Sources of the cash-in: sponsor, partners, preferred equity or released reserves
- Target loan amount, term and the prepayment terms you can accept
Our office loan page sets out the property-type basics. When the package is ready, send the deal for review.
The bottom line
Plan on bringing cash. Trepp's conduit data show office and retail borrowers still contributed about 15% of the total debt stack to refinance through July 2026, even as cash-out refinances came back for stronger assets. Size the new loan on leverage, debt yield and coverage, take the smallest result, and fund the gap well before the maturity date sets the terms for you.