Life insurance company commercial mortgages
| Index | 10-year Treasury: 5.00% on October 23, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Spread range | 115 to 220 bps |
| Indicative rate today | 6.15 to 7.20% |
| Sizer starting limits | 58% LTV, 1.71x DSCR, 25-year amortization (average of recent loans, not a limit) |
| Spread source | Northmarq, Current Rates sheet, October 21, 2026; ACLI Commercial Mortgage Commitments, as restated by Nassau CorAmerica (2026 white paper), December 31, 2025 |
Northmarq’s October 21, 2026 sheet shows 10-year life company loans from 115 bps (multifamily at 50% LTV) to 220 bps (commercial at 60% LTV). ACLI’s industry average spread on new life company loans was 1.87% over Treasuries for 2025.
Life insurance companies lend the cheapest long-term fixed-rate money in commercial real estate, as long as your property is stabilized, well leased and you don’t need much of a loan. On Northmarq’s October 21, 2026 rate sheet, a 10-year life company loan on multifamily at 50% loan-to-value priced 115 to 140 bps over the 10-year Treasury. The same term on commercial property at 60% priced 150 to 220.
The numbers the industry reports
The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) tracks every new loan its members commit to. Its survey is a paid publication, but Nassau CorAmerica’s 2026 white paper restates the headline figures:
- New life company loans averaged 58.0% loan-to-value and 1.71x DSCR in 2025. From 2007 through 2025 the averages were 62% and 1.85x.
- The average spread over Treasuries on new life company loans was 1.87% in 2025.
- Life insurers held $774 billion, 15.5%, of all commercial and multifamily mortgage debt at the end of 2025 (MBA data).
Those averages are why this site’s loan sizer starts life company loans at 58% and 1.71x. They aren’t rules: individual loans close above and below them.
What you give up for the rate
Read the prepayment clause before you compare rates. Nassau’s paper describes the standard life company structure plainly: principal amortizes through the term, the loan usually can’t be paid off in its early years, and yield maintenance applies after that. Yield maintenance charges you roughly the interest the lender loses by being repaid early, so if Treasury yields fall after you close, getting out gets expensive.
The loan documents also generally bar transfer of the property without the lender’s approval and prohibit additional debt on the property. If your plan is to sell in three years, or to add a second loan later, a life company is the wrong lender at any rate.
Who gets a quote
Life companies are selective. CBRE says they closed 21% of the non-agency loans it originated or brokered in Q2 2026. Nassau’s paper describes their target as institutional-quality, well-leased property in major metropolitan areas at moderate loan-to-value. Terms typically run from 3 to 20 years, and Northmarq’s sheet includes a 15-year fully amortizing option, which pays the loan off by maturity so there’s no balloon to refinance.
If your loan is small or your property is in a secondary market, a bank or CMBS is the more realistic comparison.
Questions people ask
Why are life company commercial mortgage rates so low?
Life insurers match long-dated policy liabilities with long-dated loans, and they lend at modest loan-to-value on stabilized property, so their losses have been the lowest of the major lender groups. They pass part of that through as a tighter spread. The catch is a prepayment penalty that makes early payoff expensive.
What loan-to-value do life companies lend at?
The industry average for newly originated life company loans was 58.0% loan-to-value with 1.71x debt service coverage in 2025, according to the American Council of Life Insurers. Published rate sheets show tiers at 50% and 60%, and the best pricing goes to the lower tier.
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