Bridge Loan Rates Just Hit a 12-Month Low: What Hard Money Costs in Mid-2026 (and Why San Diego Borrowers Are Paying Less)
By Andrew J. Liersch III — Founder & CIO, Slingshot Investments. 10+ years in private lending, $500M+ funded. Former Wells Fargo Private Mortgage Banking, Bear Stearns, and Deloitte Consulting.
If you’ve been waiting for private money to get cheaper before pulling the trigger on your next project, the data says the wait is over — or at least, it’s as over as it’s likely to get this cycle.
According to the Lightning Docs Private Lending Market Report covering data through June 2026 — a dataset of more than 104,000 private loans and $102 billion in originations since 2018 — the national average bridge loan rate fell to 10.07% in June 2026, down from 10.59% a year earlier. The median rate dropped even further, to 9.75%, its lowest point in the entire 13-month reporting window.
That’s a 52-basis-point decline in the average cost of bridge capital in twelve months. On a $700,000 loan — roughly the national average bridge loan amount — that’s about $3,600 per year in interest savings, and meaningfully more on the larger balances typical of Southern California deals.
What a Bridge Loan Costs Right Now: The June 2026 Numbers
Here’s where national bridge (fix-and-flip and short-term acquisition) pricing landed as of June 2026:
The national average interest rate was 10.07%, with a median of 9.75%. The average loan amount came in at $712,261. Roughly 63% of all bridge loans priced between 9% and 10.99%, and just over 40% of loans — the single largest bucket — priced in the 9–9.99% range. Only about 4% of loans priced at 13% or above.
Translation: if you’re an experienced borrower with a solid deal and you’re being quoted 12%+ in this market, you’re either dealing with a difficult property, a difficult story, or the wrong lender.
San Diego Is Beating the National Average
This is the part that matters if you invest in Southern California.
San Diego County closed 757 bridge loans in the first half of 2026 — the second-highest volume of any county in the United States, behind only Los Angeles. And despite that volume (or more accurately, because of it), San Diego pricing is below the national average: the June 2026 average rate in San Diego County was 9.67%, on an average loan amount of just over $1.06 million.
Compare that to Cook County, Illinois at 10.48%, or Dallas at 10.34% in the same month. Deep, competitive lending markets produce sharper pricing, and San Diego is one of the deepest in the country. Los Angeles County — the #1 market by volume — averaged 10.19% in June on a $1.15 million average loan, which means San Diego borrowers actually out-priced LA by roughly half a point.
For a local borrower, the takeaway is simple: you are operating in one of the two or three most liquid private lending markets in America, and lenders here compete on rate. Use that.
Why Rates Are Falling
Three forces are pulling bridge pricing down in 2026:
Volume is surging, and capital is chasing it. Same-store bridge loan volume was up 9.5% year-over-year through June, and June 2026 alone was up 26% over June 2025 — the largest monthly gain in the dataset. Q2 2026 was the highest-volume quarter on record among tracked lenders. More deal flow attracts more capital, and more capital competes on price.
The spread over Treasuries is compressing. The gap between average bridge rates and the 10-Year Treasury narrowed from 6.21 points in June 2025 to 5.60 points in June 2026. Private lenders are accepting thinner risk premiums, a classic sign of a maturing, institutionalizing asset class.
DSCR and construction demand are pulling the whole market forward. DSCR rental loan volume is up 38% year-over-year, and ground-up construction volume is pacing 147% ahead of last year nationally. When every product line is growing, lenders fight harder for each bridge deal.
What This Means for Fix-and-Flip Borrowers
Lower rates change deal math at the margin — and flipping is a business of margins.
At 10.5% on a $750,000 loan, a 9-month hold costs roughly $59,000 in interest. At 9.67% — the current San Diego average — that same hold costs about $54,400. That’s $4,600 back in your pocket on a single project, before you negotiate anything.
It also means marginal deals from 2024–2025 may pencil now. Projects that failed underwriting at 11.5–12% money can clear at sub-10%, particularly ground-up builds where the carry period is longer and the interest line is a bigger share of total cost.
And it means speed matters more than rate-shopping past a point. When the market average is 10.07% and the competitive range in San Diego is high-9s, the difference between lenders is measured in days-to-close and certainty of execution, not eighths of a point. In a foreclosure-deadline or auction scenario, the lender who funds on time is worth more than the lender who quotes 25 basis points lower and misses.
Where Rates Go From Here
Nobody can promise the direction of rates — not us, not anyone. But the structural signals in the data (compressing Treasury spreads, record volume, growing lender competition) suggest the private lending market is getting more efficient, not less. The days of 13–14% being “normal” hard money pricing are behind us for qualified borrowers on standard deals; that pricing tier now represents only the riskiest sliver of the market.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average bridge loan interest rate in 2026? As of June 2026, the national average bridge loan rate is 10.07%, with a median of 9.75%, based on Lightning Docs data covering thousands of monthly transactions. About 63% of bridge loans price between 9% and 10.99%.
What are hard money rates in San Diego right now? San Diego County bridge loans averaged 9.67% in June 2026 — about 40 basis points below the national average — on an average loan amount of roughly $1.06 million. San Diego is the second most active bridge lending county in the U.S.
Are bridge loan rates going down in 2026? They have been. The national average fell from 10.59% in June 2025 to 10.07% in June 2026, and the median fell from 10.50% to 9.75%. Whether the decline continues depends on Treasury yields and capital flows, but the trend through mid-2026 has been steadily downward.
Is a 10% interest rate high for a fix-and-flip loan? No — 10% is right at the current national average for bridge financing, and the largest share of loans nationally price between 9% and 9.99%. Bridge loans price higher than conventional mortgages (6.49% average in June 2026) because they fund fast, on shorter terms, against properties in transition.
How much can I borrow with a bridge loan? Loan sizes vary by market. The national average bridge loan in June 2026 was about $712,000, but in high-value California markets like San Diego and Los Angeles, averages exceed $1 million.
Data source: Lightning Docs Private Lending Market Report, data through June 2026 (Q2). Analysis and commentary by Slingshot Investments. Slingshot Investments is based in San Diego and provides private money loan real estate financing. Slingshot Investments specializes in fix-and-flip, ground-up construction, bridge and DSCR rental loans on non-owner-occupied real estate. Rates referenced are market averages, not offers to lend; actual pricing depends on the deal.
