Highest-leverage commercial mortgage programs

A ceiling, not an offer

The published maximum is the most a program can lend against value. The loan you get is the smallest of three tests: loan-to-value, debt service coverage and, at some lenders, debt yield. With the 10-year Treasury at 4.94% (October 30, 2026), coverage is the test that binds on most stabilized properties.

Illustration. A building appraised at $5,000,000 with $330,000 of net operating income, every program priced at an illustrative 6.25% so only the rules differ:

Program rules (illustration)	LTV test	Coverage test	Loan
FHA 223(f): 87%, 1.15x, 35-year amortization	$4,350,000	$4,073,000	$4,073,000 (coverage binds)
Agency: 80%, 1.25x, 30-year amortization	$4,000,000	$3,573,000	$3,573,000 (coverage binds)
Freddie Mac Conventional Small, 5-year term: 75%, 1.25x, 30-year	$3,750,000	$3,573,000	$3,573,000 (coverage binds)
Illustrative bank terms: 75%, 1.25x, 25-year amortization	$3,750,000	$3,335,000	$3,335,000 (coverage binds)

The simplified FHA line leaves out the annual insurance premium, which makes it a little high. The point holds anyway: the program with the highest LTV also wins because it has the lowest coverage floor and the longest amortization. Leverage comes from all three rules together. Run your own building in the loan sizer.

Ceilings that sit outside the ranking

Some of the highest leverage in commercial real estate comes from rules that are not one program’s maximum LTV.

Rule	Ceiling	What it applies to
Bank supervisory limit, improved property	85% (improved property)5	Completed income property; banks set lower policy limits
Bank supervisory limit, construction	80% (commercial, multifamily and other nonresidential construction)5	A value limit, not loan-to-cost
FHA 223(f) cash-out	Greater of 80% LTV or the cost to refinance6	Refinances that take equity out
FHA large loans	1.30x DSCR, 75% LTV, 70% with cash out7	Loans at or above $130 million
Freddie Mac Supplemental	80% combined LTV at 1.25x (7-year term)9	A second loan on an existing Freddie Mac first
Fannie Mae Supplemental	as high as 70% LTV, depending on asset class and use of proceeds10	A second loan on an existing Fannie Mae first
Fannie Mae Green Rewards	up to 5% more loan proceeds than a non-green DUS loan11	Energy and water improvements
C-PACE	100% of eligible hard and soft costs12	The improvement cost, not the property value

Two of these trip people up. Freddie Mac Conventional Small drops to 75% max LTV (5 to under 7-year terms)¹³, and full-term interest-only loans cap lower still: Full-term interest-only: 65% LTV (7 years or less), 70% (over 7 years)¹³. Choosing a short term or interest-only can cost you the leverage you came for.

What borrowers actually borrowed

Source	Average or median LTV
CBRE, Q2 2026 commercial loans	59.6%3
CBRE, Q2 2026 multifamily loans	63.3%3
HMDA 2025 apartment loans	64.5% median combined loan-to-value14
CMBS conduit new issues, June to August 2026	55.6%15
Public bridge lender books, Q3 2026	64%16 to 68.5%17
Public small-balance investor lender, Q2 2026	64.6%18

Most borrowers land in the sixties whatever the ceiling says. If a lender’s indication is well above that band on a stabilized property, ask what its coverage test and amortization are before you count on the proceeds.

Four ways to borrow more than the first mortgage allows

1. Pick the program with the lowest coverage floor and longest amortization. As the illustration shows, that adds more loan than a higher LTV.
2. Add a supplemental loan later. Agency borrowers can return for a second loan once the property’s income has grown, subject to seasoning: at least 12 months after the first loan; not in its last 3 years⁹ at Freddie Mac.
3. Stack mezzanine debt or preferred equity. It fills the gap between the senior loan and your equity, at a cost well above senior debt. Model the blend in the blended rate calculator.
4. Fund energy or resilience work with C-PACE. The assessment can replace part of the equity a renovation needs, with the senior lender’s consent.

Edge cases a lender will raise

• Purchase price caps value. On an acquisition, LTV uses the lower of the purchase price or the appraised value⁵, so a below-appraisal purchase does not raise your loan.
• Leverage needs income history. FHA 223(f): Stable occupancy of at least 85%⁶. Fannie Mae: Stabilized occupancy, typically 90% for 90 days before funding¹⁹. A property still leasing up gets bridge leverage, not agency leverage.
• High leverage comes with less flexibility. FHA 223(f): Prepayment generally prohibited for 5 years from endorsement⁶. Agency fixed-rate loans carry yield maintenance or defeasance.

Send Janover Capital the property and the NOI and we will tell you which test binds and where the most proceeds are.