Real Estate Securitization in the USA Concentrates Capital in Multifamily and Signals Selective Resumption in Offices

The LTV rate for multifamily residential assets in the US advanced to 62%, with interest rates falling to an average of 6.0%. The representation of multifamily in CMBS conduit issuances rose from 31% to 43% of total operations. Office sector recorded LTV expansion to 49.5%, but operates with narrower debt service coverage margins. Retail, logistics and self-storage saw leverage shrink by 6 to 10 percentage points, requiring more equity from sponsors. Scenario imposes a new calibration of the capital structure for Brazilian investors and funds operating in the US real estate market. The structured real estate debt market in the United States has demonstrated increasingly selective behavior in capital allocation. According to recent data on securitized commercial mortgage securities (conduit-type CMBS) consolidated by CRED iQ, the path of moderation in interest rates over the last year has not translated into uniform financing conditions. Instead, North American lenders and issuers are reconfiguring capital requirements, favoring the multifamily residential sector and demonstrating a cautious reopening of credit for corporate commercial real estate (offices). In the multifamily segment, bond issuers extended a greater volume of credit under terms that were noticeably more favorable to borrowers. The ratio between the loan value and the average property value (Loan-to-Value or LTV) rose 2.2 percentage points, reaching 62% — the highest level among all categories analyzed. At the same time, the cost of this debt fell by 0.5 percentage points, settling at 6.0% per year. This movement highlights a strong vote of confidence from creditors in the stability of cash flow in the residential rental sector. On the other hand, the office segment showed leverage gains under different mechanics. The average LTV for loans aimed at corporate buildings rose 3.3 percentage points, reaching 49.5%. However, the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) fell to 1.94 times, accompanied by an increase in the debt yield. This signals that originators accept financing larger volumes against corporate assets, but require pricing that compensates for a smaller margin of error, betting on the operational stabilization of assets and not on an unrestricted recovery of the sector. In direct contrast, other sectors of the North American commercial real estate market have faced a substantial tightening in credit conditions. In the retail sector, LTV fell 10.2 percentage points, falling to 47.8%, while debt yield jumped to 20.3%. A similar trend affected the logistics and self-storage segments, which recorded drops in leverage of between 6 and 10 percentage points. Although these markets do not present operational stress, the new structures require sponsors to contribute a considerably greater volume of equity. In the hotel sector, the debt yield remained at a high level of 22.4%, reinforcing that financiers continue to price a higher than average downside risk. The stability of the overall market's average LTV at 55.6% is the result of the change in sample composition: the share of multifamily in the total loan count jumped from 31% to 43%. Without the growing weight of the residential sector, the general scenario would point to a general decrease in the level of indebtedness allowed by creditors. For investors and private equity managers in Brazil focusing on real estate assets in the US — especially in regions of strong population growth in the Sunbelt, such as Florida and Texas — this divergence in CMBS metrics reshapes funding and debt strategies. The requirement for greater equity investment in logistics and retail requires a rigorous alignment of the cost of third-party capital, while the liquidity maintained in the multifamily sector opens space for efficient refinancing and the origination of new residential investment thesis. Source: commercialobserver.com - https://commercialobserver.com/2026/09/cmbs-conduit-multifamily-office-cred-iq/