Current SBA 7a rates?

searcher profile

January 08, 2026

by a searcher in Chicago, IL, USA

Haven't seen any recent posts on current rates. Can anyone comment on what they're seeing out there currently for standard 7a 10yr term loans? 20% / 80%
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Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA
Great question. Unfortunately interest rates are all over the board depending on the institution, strength of the transaction, and experience and financial strength of the buyer(s) / Guarantor(s). Still the vast majority of SBA 7A loans are variable rate. That rate can be anywhere from Prime to Prime plus 3.00%. With Prime at 6.75% that puts the interest rate at 6.75% to 9.75% today. A small portion of the market offers fixed interest rates. Those rates can start in the 6% range up into the low 8% range. However, we have found many customers are choosing to go with the variable rate over the fixed rate if the starting point of the variable rate is close to the fixed rate due to the fact they believe interest rates are likely to go lower in the future. Please keep in mind those lenders offering fixed interest rates have the highest credit standards. Only deals with strong debt service coverage ratios (DSCR) over several years, lower goodwill exposure, consistent revenues and earnings, buyers with direct industry experience, no major credit risks like customer concentrations or licensing concerns, and buyers financially strong that have solid post-closing liquidity are likely to qualify with many of the lenders offering fixed rates. We find many of the fixed rate lenders pass on 95% of the deals they look at, and most will not take on goodwill (unsecured exposure) more than $500,000 to $1.5 million. So if there is a lot of goodwill in the transaction, they typically pass on providing any financing. The rest of the lenders are typically variable rate and we are usually seeing rate spreads from 1.00% to 2.00%. Please let me know if you have any additional questions on interest rates or would like to discuss financing in any way. You can reach me here or directly at redacted
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Reply by an admin
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Portland, OR, USA
^redacted might be able to help here.
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