The quick read: A 6- to 12-month commercial bridge loan costs its note rate plus every fee spread across the months you actually hold it, so the shorter the hold, the more each fee costs per year: one point of fees adds 2.00 percentage points a year over 6 months, 1.33 over 9 months and 1.00 over 12 months. Published 2026 figures put the rate itself at 6% to 12% (NerdWallet's estimates from lender websites, as of May 2026), and the transitional loans in a handful of recent CRE CLO deals carried a weighted-average spread of 303 basis points over SOFR, according to a CRED iQ analysis published in Commercial Observer on July 27, 2026. Price the points, the exit fee and any lock-out or minimum-interest term before you compare quotes.
This guide answers one narrow question: what a bridge loan costs per year when the plan is to be out in 6 to 12 months. For the full-term dollar model, see commercial bridge loan rates and true carry cost; for every closing charge, see bridge loan fees and closing costs.
What does a 6- to 12-month commercial bridge loan cost in 2026?
A 6- to 12-month commercial bridge loan in 2026 starts from a rate that NerdWallet's lender-website estimates put at 6% to 12% as of May 2026, then adds fees whose cost per year doubles each time the hold is halved. Recent CRE CLO loans averaged 303 basis points over SOFR, a CRED iQ analysis published in Commercial Observer found.
Those two figures measure different things. NerdWallet's range is an estimate across lenders; its commercial bridge loan guide, updated February 19, 2026, gives a wider span of 6% to 14% or more. The CRED iQ figure, published by Commercial Observer on July 27, 2026, is a weighted average across 160 loans totaling $4.68 billion in a handful of recent CRE CLO deals, with a weighted-average coupon near 6.68%. Neither is a quote for your property.
- Published commercial bridge rate estimate: 6% to 12% (NerdWallet, estimates as of May 2026)
- Recent CRE CLO loan spread: 303 basis points over SOFR, weighted average (CRED iQ via Commercial Observer, July 27, 2026)
- Recent CRE CLO loan coupon: near 6.68%, weighted average (same analysis)
- SOFR: 3.87% as of 2026-09-23 (FRED)
- Bank prime rate: 7.00% as of 2026-09-21 (FRED)
- Federal funds target range: 3-3/4 to 4 percent, after the FOMC raised it by 1/4 percentage point on September 16, 2026 (Federal Reserve)
Because those CLO loans float, the same 303-basis-point spread over the 3.87% SOFR print of 2026-09-23 works out to 6.90%. That is arithmetic on two published numbers, not a quote, and it assumes no index floor; ask every lender whether its loan has one.
Why does every point of fees cost more on a short hold?
Every point of fees costs more on a short hold because origination and exit fees are one-time charges, so the fewer months you keep the loan, the fewer months they are spread across: a point paid on a loan you repay after six months costs the same as two percentage points of annual interest, and after twelve months, one.
The simple annualized cost of a bridge quote is the note rate plus total points divided by the years you hold the loan. A point is 1% of the loan amount, and total points means every lender fee stated that way: origination at closing, an exit fee at payoff and any other charge the term sheet lists as a percentage of the loan.
- Annualized cost (simple): note rate + (total points ÷ years held)
- Years held: months held ÷ 12
- Cost per point of fees: 12 ÷ months held, in percentage points a year
Table: Annual cost added by fees, by hold length (arithmetic, not a quote)
| Hold length | Years outstanding | Added per year by 1 point | By 2 points | By 3 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months | 0.50 | 2.00 percentage points | 4.00 percentage points | 6.00 percentage points |
| 9 months | 0.75 | 1.33 percentage points | 2.67 percentage points | 4.00 percentage points |
| 12 months | 1.00 | 1.00 percentage point | 2.00 percentage points | 3.00 percentage points |
| 24 months, for contrast | 2.00 | 0.50 percentage point | 1.00 percentage point | 1.50 percentage points |
The 1-, 2- and 3-point columns are placeholders for your own total, not typical fee loads. Two refinements move the real figure: if a fee is withheld from loan proceeds, you pay interest on money you never received, which pushes the annual cost higher; and on a floating-rate loan the coupon moves with the index, so the rate half of the formula is not fixed either.
Published short-term bridge terms by lender type, side by side
Published, dated terms for short-term commercial bridge loans exist for some lender types and not others: a CRE CLO loan sample and one Freddie Mac program state pricing or fee figures, while the bank, direct-lender and hard money sources describe terms without a rate, so each unstated cell is a question for the lender.
Table: Published short-term bridge terms by lender type (each figure dated and sourced)
| Lender type | Rate or spread | Fees and early payoff | Leverage and term | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All commercial bridge lenders (estimate) | 6% to 12% | Processing, appraisal and escrow fees may apply; amounts not stated | LTV or LTC of 65% to 80%; terms up to three years | NerdWallet rates, May 2026; NerdWallet guide, Feb 19, 2026 |
| Bank or credit union | No bank bridge rate stated; prime was 7.00% as of 2026-09-21 | Not stated | Usually slow to fund, "several days to several weeks"; not all banks offer bridge financing | NerdWallet guide, Feb 19, 2026; FRED prime rate |
| Debt fund or other direct private lender | No rate stated for this type | Many offer "no prepayment penalties" | Many offer terms up to three years and interest-only payments | NerdWallet guide, Feb 19, 2026 |
| CRE CLO lender | 303 basis points over SOFR, weighted average; coupon near 6.68% | Not stated | 95% of balance full-term interest-only; 79.8% apartments | CRED iQ via Commercial Observer, July 27, 2026 |
| Hard money lender | No rate stated; described as carrying "high interest rates" | Not stated | LTV of 50% to 75%; terms from "a few months to a few years" | NerdWallet, Mar 10, 2026 |
| Agency value-add loan (Freddie Mac Optigo Value-Add) | Floating rate, full-term interest-only, no rate cap required; rate not stated | 0.5% upfront fee, subject to adjustment; standard 12-month lock-out, then a 1% exit fee, waived on a qualified Freddie Mac Conventional refinance | Three-year term; as-is baseline LTV up to 85% with a 1.15x minimum DCR | Freddie Mac product sheet, 04/25 |
Read the table as a map of what is published, not a ranking. The direct-lender row uses NerdWallet's description of direct bridge lenders, private companies that lend their own money; the guide does not break out debt funds. The CRE CLO sample is 79.8% apartments, so its spread describes one slice of transitional lending. The Freddie Mac loan runs three years, but it shows in writing how a lock-out and an exit fee price an early payoff.
How do a lock-out and an exit fee change the cost of leaving early?
A lock-out and an exit fee change the cost of leaving early by deciding whether you can repay at month six at all and what repaying costs: Freddie Mac's Optigo Value-Add loan, a three-year agency product, carries a standard 12-month lock-out and then a 1% exit fee unless you refinance into a qualified Freddie Mac Conventional loan.
On that published structure, a borrower who repays just after the 12-month lock-out expires, into other financing, pays the standard 0.5% upfront fee and the 1% exit fee: 1.5 points over roughly one year, or about 1.50 percentage points a year on top of the note rate. Refinancing into a qualified Freddie Mac Conventional loan waives the exit fee, leaving about 0.50 percentage point a year from the upfront fee. The product sheet allows a longer or shorter lock-out "based on borrower's preference," so a six-month plan has to be negotiated at origination, not discovered at payoff. For how that agency takeout works, see how a bridge-to-agency loan works.
A prepayment penalty or a minimum-interest clause works the same way from the other direction. NerdWallet's February 19, 2026 guide says many direct bridge lenders offer no prepayment penalties, so ask each lender in writing whether its term sheet guarantees a minimum number of months of interest. If it does, the arithmetic is simple: with hypothetical inputs to replace with your own, a six-month minimum and a payoff at month four means paying six months of interest for four months of use, which lifts a 6.90% note rate to an effective 10.35% a year before any fees.
How do you annualize a bridge quote for the hold you expect?
You annualize a bridge quote by adding the interest for the months you expect to hold the loan to every fee in dollars, dividing that total by the loan amount, and dividing again by the years held; the worked example below runs one set of inputs over 6, 9 and 12 months.
Every input below is either a cited figure or a placeholder to replace with your own:
- Loan amount: $4,000,000 (hypothetical; use your own)
- Note rate: 6.90%, which is SOFR of 3.87% as of 2026-09-23 plus 3.03%, the weighted-average CRE CLO spread CRED iQ reported in Commercial Observer in July 2026 (a stand-in, not a quote)
- Fees: one point at closing and one point at payoff, $40,000 each (hypothetical placeholders, not typical terms)
- Index path: held flat for the whole hold (a simplification, not a projection)
Table: One hypothetical quote annualized over three hold lengths
| Hold | Interest | Fees (2 points) | Total cost | Share of loan amount | Annualized cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months | $138,000 | $80,000 | $218,000 | 5.45% | 10.90% |
| 9 months | $207,000 | $80,000 | $287,000 | 7.18% | 9.57% |
| 12 months | $276,000 | $80,000 | $356,000 | 8.90% | 8.90% |
The 6-month hold looks cheapest in dollars and as a share of the loan, yet it is the most expensive per year: 10.90% against 8.90% at 12 months, because the same $80,000 of fees is carried by half the time. If the $40,000 closing point is withheld from proceeds, you receive $3,960,000, and the 6-month annualized cost on the money you actually received rises to 11.01%.
When does a lower rate with higher fees cost more on a short hold?
A lower rate with higher fees costs more on a short hold whenever you repay before the break-even month, which equals 12 times the extra points divided by the rate saving in percentage points; before that month the quote with fewer points is cheaper, and after it the lower rate wins.
- Break-even hold (months): 12 × extra points ÷ rate saving in percentage points
With hypothetical inputs to replace with your own quotes: if Quote A charges one more point than Quote B to save 0.50 percentage point of rate, the break-even is 24 months, so on any 6- to 12-month hold Quote B costs less. If Quote A saves a full percentage point for that extra point, the break-even falls to 12 months: Quote B still wins at six or nine months, and the two tie at twelve. Count an exit fee in the extra points only if you will actually pay it; a fee waived on your planned refinance, like the Freddie Mac exit fee above, drops out of the comparison.
What moves a short-term bridge quote up or down?
A short-term bridge quote moves with four inputs you can see before signing, namely the floating index, the lender's spread, the points charged in and out, and the months you will actually hold the loan, and NerdWallet's February 2026 guide ties the rate itself to "the lender, value of collateral and borrower qualifications."
The index is public and dated: SOFR was 3.87% as of 2026-09-23, after the FOMC's September 16, 2026 increase, and FRED notes that prime, 7.00% as of 2026-09-21, is "one of several base rates used by banks to price short-term business loans." Everything else is set by the lender or by your plan, so ask every lender the same questions:
- Which index, what spread, and is there an index floor?
- How many points at closing, and are they withheld from proceeds?
- Is there an exit fee, a lock-out or a minimum-interest period, and in which months does each apply?
- What does an extension cost if the plan runs past month 12?
How do you get lenders competing on a short-term bridge loan?
You get lenders competing on a short-term bridge loan by sending each one the same complete file and asking every quote to state its index, spread, points, exit fee and lock-out in writing, so the offers can be annualized over your real hold instead of compared on the headline rate.
YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a 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. 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. Count any fee paid at closing, including a broker fee, in the points you annualize. Submit your short-term bridge deal with the hold you expect, and compare the quotes on cost per year.
The bottom line
A 6- to 12-month commercial bridge loan is priced like any bridge loan and paid for like a short one. On a floating-rate loan the rate is an index plus a spread: NerdWallet's estimates put it at 6% to 12% as of May 2026, and recent CRE CLO loans averaged 303 basis points over SOFR in CRED iQ's July 2026 analysis published by Commercial Observer. The fees are what change with the hold: each point costs 2.00 percentage points a year over six months and 1.00 over twelve. Get the lock-out, exit fee and any minimum-interest period in writing, annualize every quote over the hold you actually expect, and choose the lowest cost per year, not the lowest headline rate.