The quick read: The fixed rate on the CDC portion of an SBA 504 loan is set on the monthly debenture pricing date of the sale your closed loan makes, not on the day you sign a commitment or close the bank loan. SBA's 2026 funding schedule, Information Notice 5000-869666, defines the pricing date as "the date that the 504 debenture rates are set," and the last two 2026 sales price on 11/05/26 and 12/10/26. Until your debenture sells, the CDC share of the project rides on interim financing at the interim lender's rate, and your future fixed rate rides on the 10-year Treasury. Treasury's daily par yield curve put the 10-year at 4.95% on the September pricing date (09/10/26), 5.22% on the October pricing date (10/08/26) and 5.12% on October 20, 2026.
How is the SBA 504 debenture rate set off the 10-year Treasury?
SBA sets the 504 debenture rate on each monthly pricing date, and federal rules say the rate on a 504 loan and the debenture that funds it is set by SBA and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. SBA's 504 page says that rate is pegged to an increment above the current market rate for 10-year Treasury issues.
Two things follow for an owner-user buying or building a property with an SBA 504 loan. First, no one can quote you the final debenture rate before your pricing date, because it does not exist yet. Second, the increment above the 10-year is set at each sale, and this page does not state the October 2026 debenture rate or increment, because no source on its citation list prints them. Ask your CDC for the most recent sale's rate and treat it as history, not as a quote.
The debenture rate is also not the whole cost of the CDC portion. SBA's fee rule at 13 CFR 120.971 adds annual charges on the unpaid balance and one-time charges at funding:
Rate setter (13 CFR 120.932): SBA, approved by the Secretary of the Treasury
Rate peg (SBA 504 page): an increment above the current 10-year Treasury rate
Terms (SBA 504 page): 10, 20 and 25 years
CDC servicing fee (13 CFR 120.971): at least 0.625% a year on the unpaid balance; above 1% outside rural areas needs SBA's prior written approval
SBA annual fee (13 CFR 120.971): not more than 0.9375% a year on the unpaid balance
SBA guarantee fee (13 CFR 120.971): 0.5% of the debenture
CDC processing fee (13 CFR 120.971): up to 1.5% of net debenture proceeds
Total fees (SBA 504 page): approximately 3% of the debt, and they may be financed with the loan
So when you compare a 504 structure with a conventional owner-user loan, compare the all-in cost: the debenture rate plus the annual fees on the CDC piece, blended with the first-lien rate on the bank piece.
What are the November and December 2026 SBA 504 debenture cut-offs?
The November 2026 sale prices on 11/05/26 and needed closing packages at SBA counsel by the 10/08/26 district cut-off, while the December sale prices on 12/10/26 with an 11/10/26 district cut-off. By this page's October 28 publication date, a loan not already in the November sale is aiming at December.
SBA's notice prints the full calendar. These are the last three 2026 sales, read from the notice:
| Step | October 2026 sale | November 2026 sale | December 2026 sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step District cut-off | October 2026 sale 09/10/26 | November 2026 sale 10/08/26 | December 2026 sale 11/10/26 |
| Step CSA cut-off | October 2026 sale 09/24/26 | November 2026 sale 10/22/26 | December 2026 sale 11/25/26 |
| Step Pulled-loan deadline | October 2026 sale 10/05/26 | November 2026 sale 11/02/26 | December 2026 sale 12/07/26 |
| Step Announcement date | October 2026 sale 10/06/26 | November 2026 sale 11/03/26 | December 2026 sale 12/08/26 |
| Step Pricing date (rate set) | October 2026 sale 10/08/26 | November 2026 sale 11/05/26 | December 2026 sale 12/10/26 |
| Step Funding date | October 2026 sale 10/14/26 | November 2026 sale 11/10/26 | December 2026 sale 12/16/26 |
| Step Debenture terms in the sale | October 2026 sale 20 and 25 years | November 2026 sale 10, 20 and 25 years | December 2026 sale 20 and 25 years |
The notice defines each step. The district cut-off is the deadline for the 504 loan closing package to be received by SBA counsel; it is the same date nationwide and "will be strictly enforced," with no late or incomplete packages, or ones with pending servicing actions, accepted. The CSA cut-off is when the Central Servicing Agent must have the CDC's documents, about 14 days before pricing. The pulled-loan deadline, close of business on the Monday before pricing, is the last chance to withdraw a loan from the sale. Pricing falls on the first Thursday of the first full week of the month, and funding follows on the Wednesday of the next week.
The calendar also builds in holidays. The November funding date moved up to 11/10/26 because of Veterans Day, and the December cut-offs moved up because of Thanksgiving and Veterans Day. The notice says 20- and 25-year debentures are offered monthly, while only the sales it marks with an asterisk include 10-year debentures; November is marked, December is not.
The notice expires 12/31/26, and it does not print any 2027 dates. A loan that misses the 11/10/26 district cut-off falls to the first 2027 sale, so ask your CDC for that calendar before you plan around it.
What do you pay on the CDC portion before the debenture prices?
Before the debenture prices, you pay the interim lender's rate on the CDC share of project costs, because SBA's rules let a project use interim financing for all project costs except the borrower's contribution. The debenture is issued only after the interim lender certifies how much it disbursed and the CDC certifies the project is complete.
The rule at 13 CFR 120.890 sets the conditions for that interim money. Any source, including a CDC, may provide it, as long as the financing is not derived from an SBA program, its terms are acceptable to SBA, the source is not the borrower or an associate of the borrower, and the source can monitor construction and progress payments. Where it cannot, SBA may require a third party, such as a bank or professional construction manager, to manage the interim loan.
The rule at 13 CFR 120.891 explains why construction stretches the interim period. The CDC must certify that the project was completed in accordance with the final plans and specifications before the debenture is issued. On a purchase of an existing building that can be a short gap; on a ground-up build or heavy renovation it runs through completion.
The interim rate itself is whatever the interim note says. SBA's rule requires terms acceptable to SBA; it does not print a rate. If the interim note floats off prime, which the Federal Reserve's H.15 release describes as one of several base rates banks use to price short-term business loans, it starts from 7.00%, the H.15 weekly average prime rate in each week from September 23 to October 14, 2026. That is three separate exposures while you wait:
Interim interest: the interim lender's rate on the drawn CDC share, for as long as the debenture is pending
Treasury risk: the 10-year Treasury level on the pricing date your loan actually makes
Slippage: a missed district cut-off pushes the loan to a later sale and extends both of the above
How much can the 10-year Treasury move between 504 pricing dates?
Between the September and October 2026 pricing dates, the 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.27 percentage points, from 4.95% on 09/10/26 to 5.22% on 10/08/26 on Treasury's daily par yield curve. That is how far the base your debenture rate is pegged to moved while a loan that slipped by one monthly sale waited.
The dated tape, read from Treasury's daily par yield curve:
10-year Treasury, Treasury par yield curve (09/10/26, September pricing date): 4.95%
10-year Treasury, Treasury par yield curve (09/30/26): 5.29%
10-year Treasury, Treasury par yield curve (10/08/26, October pricing date): 5.22%
10-year Treasury, Treasury par yield curve (10/19/26): 5.15%
10-year Treasury, Treasury par yield curve (10/20/26): 5.12%
Here is what that kind of move does to a payment, as an illustration only. On a $1,000,000 CDC portion amortizing over 25 years, each 0.25 percentage point on the rate changes the monthly payment by roughly $154 to $162 at starting rates between 6% and 7.25% (our arithmetic). A 0.27-point move adds roughly $166 to $175 a month across the same range. These are sensitivities, not debenture rates, and the increment SBA sets at each sale can move too.
Nobody can tell you where the 10-year will be on 12/10/26. What you control is which sale your loan makes and how much cushion your cash flow has if the rate lands higher than the last sale.
How do you cut the timing risk on an SBA 504 rate?
You cut the timing risk by working backward from the district cut-off of the sale you want, delivering a complete closing package early and negotiating interim terms that make a one-month slip affordable. Then underwrite the business's cash flow at a fixed rate above the most recent sale, so a later sale does not break the deal.
A working plan for a loan targeting the December 2026 sale:
- Date the plan from 11/10/26, the December district cut-off, not from 12/10/26, the pricing date. The interim loan has to be closed and the package complete before the cut-off.
- Clear every open servicing action first. The notice says packages with pending servicing actions are not accepted.
- Decide the debenture term now. If you want a 10-year debenture, December 2026 does not offer one under the notice; the November sale did.
- Read the interim note for its index, spread and any extension fee, and model three months of interim interest, not one.
- Stress the debt service. Rerun your coverage at a debenture rate 0.50 point above the last sale's rate and keep the deal only if it still works.
The 504 application guide lists the documents that most often hold a package back, and the SBA 504 and 7(a) rates page explains how the 504 rate compares with 7(a) pricing.
How do you get an SBA 504 loan placed so it makes the sale you want?
You get an SBA 504 loan placed on schedule by lining up the first-lien lender, the interim lender and the CDC around one target sale date, and a brokerage can run those conversations in parallel instead of one at a time. YieldStack is an AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage that arranges financing for commercial real estate investors.
Three ways to line up the parties, with the brokerage route first:
- A commercial mortgage brokerage. YieldStack's software matches the deal against a catalog of 20,000+ loan programs. Human brokers then structure the request, negotiate first-lien and interim terms on the borrower's side and carry the deal toward closing against the district cut-off. 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.
- Going direct to one bank and its CDC partner. You see that bank's first-lien and interim terms, and the comparison across lenders is your own work.
- Starting with a CDC. The CDC handles the debenture portion and the SBA paperwork; the first lien and the interim loan still need a lender and pricing.
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. Send the project budget, the purchase contract or construction schedule, three years of business financials and the target sale month, then submit the 504 project for review. The SBA loan page covers both SBA programs.
The bottom line
An SBA 504 loan's CDC rate is set on the pricing date of the sale your closed loan makes, not at commitment. The last 2026 sale prices on 12/10/26, and its package must reach SBA counsel by 11/10/26. Until then you carry the interim lender's rate and the 10-year Treasury, so plan backward from the cut-off and stress the payment.