The CMBS Maturity Wall Hides a Sharp Refinancing Reset

The CMBS maturity wall tops $100B over nine months, and replacing that debt now costs roughly 114 bps more than the loans carry today.
The CMBS maturity wall tops $100B over nine months, and replacing that debt now costs roughly 114 bps more than the loans carry today.
  • More than 2,600 conduit and SBLL CMBS loans mature within nine months, carrying a balance above $100B.
  • Multifamily shows a 7.5% distress rate in the pool, above retail at 3.5% and hotel at 4.4%.
  • Mixed-use, retail and office loans face resets of roughly 172 to 178 bps, even where loans look clean.
Key Takeaways

More than 2,600 conduit and SBLL CMBS loans mature over the next nine months. Their combined outstanding balance tops $100B. The balance-weighted distress rate across that pool is 5.55%, according to CRED iQ. That average conceals more than it reveals.

Multifamily Breaks Its Safer Asset Reputation

Office carries the highest distress rate of any major property type in the maturing pool, at 9.4% on $23.86B. That much is expected. Multifamily is the surprise. At $5.01B of maturing balance, it shows a 7.5% distress rate. That sits above retail at 3.5% and hotel at 4.4%. Multifamily is conventionally treated as the safer bet, especially against retail’s long-running death of the mall narrative. In this cohort, the ranking flips.

The Details

Distress rates describe what has already gone wrong. The refinancing math describes what is coming. Loans maturing in this window carry an average note rate of 5.44%. Loans originated between May and August of this year priced at a loan-weighted 6.58%. That is a gap of roughly 114 bps. It applies whether or not a loan is flagged as distressed. Mixed-use faces the widest reset at 178 bps, followed by retail at 173 bps and office at 172 bps. Hotel faces the smallest gap at 32 bps, since those loans already priced close to today’s market.

CRED iQ chart showing CMBS refinancing rate gaps by property type, with mixed-use facing the widest reset at 178 bps.

A Wall Concentrated in Gateway Markets

Just 10 of the 371 metro areas in the data account for 57.8% of the full $87.8B balance. New York, Newark and Jersey City alone represent $15.87B, or 18.1% of the national total. Los Angeles follows at $7.81B and San Francisco at $4.70B. Individual loans are large enough to move those numbers on their own. A single Honolulu retail property carries a $1.73B loan maturing in June 2027, the largest in the entire wall. A $1.69B office loan on Binney Street in Cambridge matures in May 2027.

CRED iQ map showing CMBS loan maturities across major US metros, led by New York with 18.1% of the national total.

Why It Matters

Shadow distress is the real exposure this data surfaces. A performing loan can still face a materially higher payment after refinancing. That pressure matters as AI-driven leasing reshapes major technology office markets and strengthens demand for high-quality space.

Three New York trophy office towers show the spread of outcomes. 1290 Avenue of the Americas has $673M maturing in November 2026. 1095 Avenue of the Americas has $544M due in February 2027. 280 Park Avenue has $430M due in September 2026 and is already showing real strain. Its Sixth Avenue counterparts are considered comfortable performers today.

What’s Next

January 2027 is the month to watch. Its distressed balance sits across four office loans in four separate gateway metros. New York, Washington, Seattle and San Francisco are all stressed in the same 30-day window. September 2026 shows a different pattern. A lodging portfolio and a Chicago office loan are fully distressed there. A $699.7M New York office loan is only 10.4% distressed, yet contributes more dollars by size. Size and distress rate both do real work in these totals.

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