Office Financing in 2026: Who's Still Lending and On What Terms
Office has carried the worst headlines of any commercial real estate sector for three years running, and the data hasn't made that reputation easy to shake. CMBS office delinquency stood at 11.57% in June 2026, per Trepp, the highest rate of any major property type by a wide margin. But "office lending has stopped" is a lazy read of a more complicated market. Capital is still moving into office deals. It is simply moving more selectively, and toward a narrower set of assets, than it did prior to the pandemic.
What the Maturity Data Actually Shows
Seventeen percent of outstanding office property loans are scheduled to mature in 2026, according to MBA's survey of loan maturity volumes, a figure that sits squarely in the middle of the range across property types. That is higher than multifamily's 13% but lower than industrial's 23% and hotel's 30%, which corrects the assumption that office maturities are uniquely catastrophic. They are elevated, and are landing in a market with real distress concentrated in older, lower-quality assets, but the maturity volume itself is not an outlier among commercial property types.
Banks Are Coming Back, Selectively
Regional and community banks that pulled back from office lending broadly in the years following the Covid-19 outbreak are re-entering the market in 2026, but that reentry has been uneven by geography and asset type. Secondary office markets remain a harder conversation for most bank lenders than industrial or multifamily. The banks that are writing office paper are doing so with tighter leverage, stronger sponsor requirements, and closer scrutiny of tenant rollover than they applied a few years ago. Additionally, lenders are focusing on office assets in vibrant markets that are showing demand through positive net absorption, low vacancy, and rental rate growth.
Life Companies Are Filling Part of the Gap
Life insurance company lenders have reported both higher production goals and a more selective posture heading into 2026, a combination that sounds contradictory but plays out consistently in the market: more capital chasing fewer deals that meet a higher bar. For well-leased office assets with durable tenant credit, manageable rollover, and minimal deferred maintenance, life companies are competing hard and, in some cases, taking business away from banks and debt funds on the strength of pricing and certainty of execution. For assets with real vacancy or rollover risk, that same selectivity means life companies are simply not at the table.
What Separates a Financeable Office Deal From One That Isn't
The properties still attracting real lender interest share a few characteristics. Lease term that comfortably outlasts the loan term is the single biggest factor, mirroring the same lender logic that applies across every property type but weighted more heavily for office given the sector's rollover risk. Tenant credit quality matters more than square footage. A smaller building fully leased to a credit tenant is a more financeable asset than a larger one with a fragmented, lower-credit rent roll. Location within a submarket matters as much as the market itself; a well-positioned building in a secondary market can outperform a struggling asset in a gateway city. And sponsors who have actively managed the asset through recent years, capital improvements, proactive leasing, tenant retention, are getting credit for that track record in underwriting conversations.
For owners of office assets that don't check those boxes, the path forward is usually not a straight refinance. Repositioning, partial conversion, or a sale to a buyer with a different risk appetite are often more realistic outcomes than waiting for financing terms to improve.
How SF Capital Can Help
SF Capital works office financing across the full range of lender categories, from banks and life companies still active in the space to the structured capital solutions that make sense for transitional assets. If you own office real estate and want an honest read on where your specific asset stands, contact the SF Capital team.
