The quick read: No source wins every deal. A life insurance company, a CMBS conduit and a bank all build a fixed rate the same way, a benchmark yield plus a spread, but each funds itself differently and lends inside a different box of leverage, term, property type and prepayment terms. The best quote comes from the source whose box your deal fits, which is why quotes should be run side by side on the same day. The market is moving under all three: the Mortgage Bankers Association's second-quarter 2026 survey shows CMBS originations up 55% from the first quarter, depositories up 22% and life companies up 15%. The benchmark moves daily too. Treasury's daily par yield curve put the 10-year at 5.12% on October 20, 2026.
How does each source build a fixed rate?
Each source builds a fixed rate from the same two pieces, a benchmark yield matched to the loan's term plus a spread for credit, leverage and the lender's own cost of money, but a life company, a conduit and a bank fund themselves differently and lock those pieces at different moments, so the same building draws different quotes.
Start with the benchmark. Treasury par yields at the close on October 20, 2026:
5-year Treasury (October 20, 2026): 4.94%
7-year Treasury (October 20, 2026): 5.02%
10-year Treasury (October 20, 2026): 5.12%, up from 5.10% on October 15
Freddie Mac's fixed-rate term sheet calls the Treasury index "the most volatile part of the coupon" and offers a lock on it. Federal Reserve researchers measured fixed-rate commercial real estate spreads against maturity-matched swap rates, and the Fed's trading and capital-markets manual says the swap market quotes a fixed rate as a basis-point spread over the Treasury rate. Whichever benchmark a lender names, ask which one it is and on what date it locks.
Then the spread, which is where the three sources part ways:
Life insurance company. A life insurer lends from its own balance sheet against long-dated liabilities. The OCC's Comptroller's Handbook says life companies "often have long-term investment needs and find terms of 10 years or longer on a fixed-rate basis attractive," and that forward commitments, frequently from a life company, usually let a borrower lock a fixed rate in advance of funding. The Fed research adds that risk-sensitive capital requirements push life insurers toward safer loans. See life company loans for how the product works.
CMBS conduit. A conduit originates a loan to sell into a bond deal, so its spread follows the bond market when the deal prices. The Fed paper describes the typical CMBS loan as "a 10-year, non-recourse, fixed-rate loan" with "prohibitive protections against prepayment," and it found borrowers moved away from CMBS when CMBS spreads rose in 2016.
Bank. A bank funds with deposits. The same research says short-duration liabilities push banks toward short-term, floating-rate loans, and only about one-third of the bank loans it studied had fixed rates. A bank's fixed rate is either a fixed note on its books or a floating loan paired with an interest rate swap; the OCC notes that borrowers can hedge interest rate risk with derivatives.
Spreads are moving as well. In the Federal Reserve's October 2026 Beige Book, Kansas City District lenders reported that spreads on CRE loans "rose substantially" and expected further increases in coming months, and Boston District contacts said financing costs increased and loan terms tightened. A quote is a dated number; compare them on one date.
Which source fits at 55%, 65% and 75% LTV?
At 55% loan-to-value every source can compete, at 65% you sit near the top of where life companies have usually lent and inside the CMBS range, and at 75% the field narrows to banks and, for apartments, the agencies, judging by how each source distributed its loans by leverage in Federal Reserve research.
Federal Reserve research (FEDS 2019-079, new CRE originations from 2012 to 2017) and one agency's published maximums:
Most life insurer CRE loans (Fed): LTV between 50% and 67%
Most CMBS loans (Fed): LTV between 60% and 71%
Average LTV (Fed): CMBS about 65%; banks and life insurers a little more than 55%
Above 75% LTV (Fed): banks were essentially the only lenders
Freddie Mac fixed rate, apartments (term sheet dated 4/26): up to 75% LTV on 5-year to under-7-year terms and 80% on 7-year and longer, at a 1.25x minimum amortizing DCR
These are historical distributions and one agency's published limits, not a promise of what any lender will quote today. Use them to decide who goes on the list.
At 55%. This sits inside the band where most life insurer loans fell, below the usual CMBS band and well inside bank and agency limits. Put every source in the competition and let prepayment and recourse decide.
At 65%. You are near the top of the life company band and in the middle of the CMBS band, with banks and agencies still in range. Property type starts to matter more; our guide to CMBS loan LTV requirements by property type shows how it moves the conduit limit.
At 75%. You are above the usual bands for both life companies and CMBS in the Fed's data and in the range where banks made almost all the loans. For apartments, the agency box reaches 75% to 80% on Freddie Mac's sheet. For other property types, expect a bank to ask for a guaranty: Fed research on the largest U.S. banks found recourse loans carried rate spreads at least 20 basis points lower and LTVs around 3 percentage points higher than non-recourse loans.
Leverage is only one test. Freddie Mac pairs its LTV limits with a 1.25x minimum amortizing DCR, and with the 10-year above 5%, the coverage test can cap proceeds before the LTV limit does.
What prepayment and recourse come with each source?
Prepayment and recourse are where the sources differ most: a CMBS loan typically carries prohibitive prepayment protection and recourse only for bad-boy carve-outs, a bank more often takes a guaranty and may hedge with a swap that costs money to unwind, and a life company lends long and commonly non-recourse, so read the exit before the coupon.
| What comes with the rate | Life company | CMBS conduit | Bank | Agency (apartments) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What comes with the rate Typical term | Life company 10 years or longer (OCC); originates most CRE loans over 10 years (Fed) | CMBS conduit 10 years is typical (Fed) | Bank Originates most CRE loans under 10 years (Fed) | Agency (apartments) 5 to 10 years (Freddie Mac fixed-rate sheet) |
| What comes with the rate Rate type | Life company Almost exclusively fixed (Fed) | CMBS conduit Almost exclusively fixed (Fed) | Bank Mostly floating; about one-third fixed (Fed) | Agency (apartments) Fixed, with an Index Lock option on the Treasury index (Freddie Mac fixed-rate sheet) |
| What comes with the rate Prepayment | Life company Set in the loan documents; get the formula in writing | CMBS conduit Prohibitive protections against prepayment (Fed) | Bank Prepayment terms, or a swap termination payment | Agency (apartments) Yield maintenance, then defeasance after securitization (Freddie Mac) |
| What comes with the rate Recourse | Life company Commonly non-recourse (OCC) | CMBS conduit Non-recourse outside bad-boy clauses (Fed) | Bank About three-fourths of large-bank CRE loans carry full or partial recourse (Fed, 2012 to 2020) | Agency (apartments) Non-recourse except standard carve-outs (Freddie Mac) |
| What comes with the rate Leverage in Fed data, 2012 to 2017 | Life company Most loans 50% to 67% LTV | CMBS conduit Most loans 60% to 71% LTV | Bank Essentially the only lender above 75% LTV | Agency (apartments) Up to 75% to 80% on Freddie Mac's sheet |
| What comes with the rate Share of CRE mortgage debt, Q2 2026 (MBA) | Life company 15% ($782 billion) | CMBS conduit 13% ($651 billion, with CDO and ABS) | Bank 38% ($1.9 trillion) | Agency (apartments) 23% ($1.2 trillion, agency and GSE) |
CMBS. The protection that makes a conduit loan easy to securitize makes it hard to exit early. Price the prepayment cost at the date you expect to sell or refinance, not only the coupon. Our CMBS loan page covers the structure.
Bank. If the fixed rate comes from a swap, the exit cost is the swap's termination value. The Fed's trading manual says a buy-back usually involves a payment "based on the mark-to-market value of the swap at the time of the buy-back," which can run either way depending on where rates have moved. Ask the bank to show the formula before you sign. The conventional bank loan page explains how bank terms are set.
Life company. Long fixed terms suit a long hold. Get the prepayment formula and any open period in the application, because that formula, not the coupon, is what you pay to leave early.
Agency. Freddie Mac's fixed-rate sheet prices prepayment as yield maintenance until securitization, followed by a 2-year lock-out and defeasance, with no prepayment premium in the final 90 days. MBA says agency and GSE financing accounts for half of all outstanding multifamily mortgage debt.
Does the 2026 jump in CMBS lending mean conduits have the best rate?
No, a 55% jump in CMBS originations from the first to the second quarter of 2026 in MBA's survey does not make conduits the cheapest source, because volume measures where loans closed, not which source quoted the lowest fixed rate on a given deal. Read it as a sign the conduit market is open.
MBA's Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations, second quarter of 2026:
CMBS: up 55% from the first quarter and up 68% from a year earlier
Depositories: up 22% from the first quarter and up 61% from a year earlier
Life insurance companies: up 15% from the first quarter and down 27% from a year earlier
GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac): down 7% from the first quarter and down 17% from a year earlier
All commercial and multifamily originations: up 12% from the first quarter and up 16% from a year earlier
New conduit lending is happening alongside stress in older CMBS loans. Trepp's CMBS delinquency rate reached 8.02% in September 2026, its highest since November 2020, with office at 12.16% and multifamily at 8.04% (posted October 2, 2026). Expect harder underwriting questions on property types with elevated delinquency, whichever source you approach.
How do you get a fixed-rate commercial loan placed with the right source?
You get a fixed-rate loan placed by sending the same package to life companies, conduit lenders, banks and, for apartments, agency lenders in the same week, with your target leverage, term and prepayment flexibility written down, and the first option to weigh is a commercial mortgage brokerage that runs that side-by-side comparison for you.
Option 1, our pick as the publisher of this guide: a commercial mortgage brokerage. YieldStack is an AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage that arranges financing for commercial real estate investors. We list it first for three reasons. Software matches the deal against a catalog of 20,000+ loan programs, so one package is tested against many lending boxes at once. Human brokers structure the request, compare the terms side by side and negotiate on the borrower's side, which is where prepayment and recourse terms get won. The median first offer arrives in under an hour, from an institutional lender, which helps when the benchmark is moving. 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. 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.
Option 2: call each source yourself. This works when you have relationships at a life company, a conduit and a bank. You then normalize the quotes yourself: same loan amount, term, amortization, prepayment, recourse, reserves and lock date.
Option 3: go straight to an agency lender, for apartments only. Agency executions publish their boxes, which makes them easy to test, but they cover multifamily and related housing only.
What to send:
- The rent roll, trailing 12-month operating statement and current budget
- Your target loan amount, leverage, term and amortization
- How long you expect to hold, and the prepayment flexibility that hold requires
- Whether you will sign a guaranty, and its limits
- Purchase contract or current loan payoff, and your target closing date
When the package is ready, send the deal for review.
The bottom line
No source owns the best fixed rate. Life companies, CMBS conduits and banks each price a benchmark plus a spread, but they lend in different boxes of leverage, term and prepayment, and the box decides the quote. Fix your leverage, hold period and exit needs first, then price every source that fits on the same day.