Madison, Wisconsin
Madison Apartment Loans in 2026
With the City Assessor's 2026 roll valuing Madison's apartment class at $9.84 billion, 9.7% over 2025, Madison apartment loans closing now start from a new tax basis. The floor is $1,500,000, the ceiling up to 80% LTV, and stabilized Madison buildings can be priced from 6.14%. HUD, both agencies, banks, bridge funds and CMBS desks all bid before we recommend a lender, and you owe no application or processing fees. Buildings in other Wisconsin cities are on Wisconsin apartment loans, larger communities on Wisconsin multifamily loans, and pricing on our commercial mortgage rates page. Lenders' terms come back in written form.
Get a Free QuoteMadison's Latest Numbers: Flat Jobs, Faster Completions, Vacancy Near 5%
In September 2026 the Madison metro held 433,500 nonfarm jobs by BLS's preliminary count (not seasonally adjusted), a 0.2% year-over-year gain. Year over year, the education-and-health category grew 3.5%, the mining, logging and construction group 6.5%, and leisure and hospitality shed 4.0%. Government, the largest payroll sector by HUD's account, stood at 97,100.
HUD judged the four-county rental market balanced as of May 1, 2025, with CoStar Group's first-quarter apartment vacancy at 5.3% and roughly 7,250 rentals under construction. The City's December 2025 Housing Snapshot, also using CoStar, reports stabilized vacancy of 4.8%, against 1.9% in 2022. By September 30, 2026, Madison had finished 2,424 net new homes, already past 2025's 2,328, with 4,416 more under construction. Census estimates 286,233 residents for July 2025; 46.0% of occupied units were owner-occupied over 2020-2024.
Median $1,549, Average $1,856: Madison Rents Alongside UW and State Payrolls
Per Apartment List's report for October 2026, the median Madison rent is $1,549; September took off 1.2%, and the twelve-month change is minus 3.3%, compared with 0.5% growth statewide. Its one-bedroom median is $1,418; its two-bedroom median, $1,629. RentCafe, whose coverage spans all 50-unit-and-larger Madison properties, puts the average at $1,856 in its update dated September 30, 2026, which RentCafe calls a 2.28% increase over the prior year's $1,814.
HUD's May 2025 table of major employers credits UW-Madison with 27,300 workers and UW Health with 18,000, followed by Wisconsin state government at 11,500 and Epic Systems, based in the separate city of Verona, at 11,000. In underwriting a Madison apartment loan, lenders treat that blend of campus, capitol and hospital jobs as a check on tenant demand.
Madison Apartment Loan Rates
Rates updated as of October 31, 2026
Eight school districts levy taxes inside Madison and the City revalues property every January 1, so a stabilized building's final quote can drift from these opening figures.
| Loan Type | Rate* | Max LTV |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Year Fixed | 6.54% | Up to 80% |
| 7 Year Fixed | 6.57% | Up to 80% |
| 10 Year Fixed | 6.61% | Up to 80% |
- Cash-out refinances are acceptable
- Interest-only and non-recourse options
- Minimum 1.25x debt-service-coverage ratio
See Madison Multifamily Rates Over $6 Million, Starting at 6.14%
Rates last updated October 31, 2026. Rates and maximum LTV shown represent our best-case pricing scenarios. Actual rates, LTV, and loan terms are subject to underwriting approval and may vary.
Inside Madison's Neighborhoods: Landmark Districts, Rents and the Downtown Plan
Exterior changes in Madison's five local historic districts need Landmarks Commission approval. Mansion Hill, north of the Capitol Square, became the first district in 1976, and Third Lake Ridge, taking in the oldest section of the Marquette neighborhood, followed in 1979. RentCafe's neighborhood table, updated September 30, 2026, tops out with its State-Langdon area at $3,019 and bottoms out with Eastmorland at $1,127; Tenney-Lapham shows $2,298 and Bram's Addition $1,270. The Downtown Area Plan, due by spring 2027, covers about 700 acres holding 34,000 residents and over 60,000 jobs.
We lend in the City-recognized neighborhoods below and in Fitchburg, Middleton, Monona, Shorewood Hills and Verona, which are separate municipalities:
- Downtown
- Mansion Hill
- Marquette
- Tenney-Lapham
- Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara
- Eken Park
- Sherman
- Vilas
- Greenbush
- Bay Creek
- Regent
- Dudgeon-Monroe
- Westmorland
- University Hill Farms
- Midvale Heights
- Sunset Village
- Eastmorland
- Bram's Addition
Madison Apartment Financing, Program Against Program
Landmark-district walk-ups, campus rentals and new edge-of-town complexes often suit different capital sources, so quotes on Madison apartment loans come from every program below:
| Program | Typical rate* | Max leverage | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fannie Mae Small Loan | 6.54% | Up to 80% | Non-recourse, fixed to 30 yrs |
| Freddie Mac SBL | 6.60% | Up to 80% | $2M to $10M small balance |
| FHA / HUD | 6.74% | Up to 85% | Highest leverage, longest term |
| Bank / portfolio | 6.50% | Up to 75% | Flexible, value-add |
| Bridge | 9.00% | Up to 80% LTC | Reposition, lease-up |
Because December tax bills follow each January 1 assessment, we run the 1.25x debt-service test on taxes from the 2026 roll, where the apartment class rose 9.7%. Bigger rent rolls belong on Wisconsin multifamily loans.
Rates last updated October 31, 2026. Rates and maximum LTV shown represent our best-case pricing scenarios. Actual rates, LTV, and loan terms are subject to underwriting approval and may vary.
From the Statehouse to the 2018 Storm: What Governs a Madison Rental
No local rent limits. Section 66.1015 keeps every Wisconsin city, village, town and county from controlling rents or rental fees on residential units. Exceptions cover units a city, housing authority or WHEDA owns or operates, and agreements with private owners who choose rent limits. Subsection (3)(b) also prohibits inclusionary zoning requirements.
City rental code. State law (Section 66.0104) limits rental registries to contact details. Madison's own code makes owners keep an emergency contact on file for every rental (MGO 27.04(2)(k)), requires 67°F heat at all times (MGO 27.04(2)(h)) and caps a household at five unrelated adults plus dependents, or six unrelated people with disabilities who need a caregiver (MGO 28.211). When repairs miss the deadline on an Official Notice, tenants can apply for rent abatement under MGO 32.04.
Assessed yearly at market value. In Madison, all property is valued at 100% of market value annually, with January 1 as the valuation date. Its 2026 roll counts 2,210 apartment parcels in the commercial class, worth $9.84 billion together (an average of $4,454,430) and 9.7% above 2025; residential values rose 4.8%. Notices were mailed May 1, with an objection deadline of May 15. Section 70.47(7)(af) bars anyone from contesting an income-method value unless they give the Assessor the income and expense data it requests at least seven days before the Board of Review first meets.
Rates, levies and installments. Assessor records show 2025 bills in the Madison school district portion of the city at a net rate of 0.018656312, which comes to about $18,656 on a $1,000,000 assessment. The City's 2027 executive budget, released October 6, 2026 and headed for December 2026 bills, proposes a $337,902,281 levy, up 3.4%, and a City rate of 6.93 mills, down from 7.01 in the 2026 budget. Voters had added $22 million to the City's 2025 budget levy in a November 2024 referendum. December bills can be paid by January 31 or in four installments ending July 31.
Deed fee and foreclosure. Section 77.22 charges the grantor a transfer fee of 0.3% of value, collected at recording. A foreclosed apartment building cannot be sold until six months after the court's judgment under Section 846.103, or three months if the borrower agreed in writing to that option when the mortgage was executed and the lender waives any deficiency judgment and lets the borrower keep possession and rents until the sale is confirmed; the borrower may redeem before the sale (Section 846.13).
The 2018 storm and flood cover. Heavy rain on August 20-21, 2018 hit western Dane County, parts of Madison included, with 11 to 15 inches in some areas, the County reports, citing the National Weather Service; City Engineering started its Watershed Study Program in January 2019 for the hardest-hit areas. When a federally regulated lender or a government-backed mortgage finances a building that FEMA maps to a zone coded A or V, the borrower must buy flood insurance; NFIP policies cover at most $500,000 of building value for five-plus-family structures.
Financing Options in Madison
What the Madison property is decides which card, and which lenders, apply:
Outside Dane County, from Green Bay to Eau Claire and La Crosse, see Wisconsin apartment loans.
Rising Assessments, Softer Medians: Refinancing in Madison
A Madison refinance closing now meets fresh values: the apartment class rose 9.7% on the 2026 roll, and December 2026 bills will be the first based on those January 1 figures. Our coverage runs use the $18.66-per-$1,000 net rate from 2025 bills plus a higher-tax case, so you know before applying whether a Madison apartment loan clears 1.25x.
On income, Apartment List shows the city's median down 3.3% over twelve months, and RentCafe's 50-plus-unit average up 2.28%; proceeds are sized on the building's trailing collections, not on either index.
Madison Apartment Building Loans After a Decade of Big-Building Completions
City certificates of occupancy show 22,472 homes completed from 2015 through 2024; a third were in buildings with at least 100 units and 9% in buildings of two to 24. We finance:
- Historic-district walk-ups
- Student buildings near UW-Madison
- Downtown and East Washington mid-rises
- East- and west-side garden complexes
- Affordable Housing Fund buildings
- Mixed-use buildings on Rapid Route A
Madison's Hundred-Unit Buildings and Wisconsin Multifamily Terms
At agency scale, a Madison rent roll can draw Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae proceeds up to 80% LTV over a term capped at 30 years, with personal recourse limited to standard bad-acts carve-outs. HUD stretches amortization furthest; under FHA Risk Share, Fannie Mae's terms read "Full amortization up to 40 years." Bank debt stays flexible and frequently includes recourse, while conduit (CMBS) loans are non-recourse.
Developers who took City subsidies, which supported 2,285 new multifamily homes from 2015 to 2024, must keep affordability standards for at least 40 years, and lenders underwrite those restricted rents. See Wisconsin multifamily loans, plus agency detail: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac.
Wisconsin Multifamily Loan Rates
For larger balances, over $6 million
Lab, Clinic and Storefront Financing in Madison
Commercial owners in Madison, from lab landlords to clinic and storefront investors, get the same multi-lender search:
Nearby Apartment Loan Markets
Milwaukee's page comes next for Madison investors, then the statewide Wisconsin page and our national list of cities:
Recent Apartment Loan Closings
Bids from several lenders preceded each closing pictured here, all of them outside Wisconsin; Madison requests are shopped the same competitive way.
What Our Clients Say
“I am a veterinarian who purchased an existing practice. I was surprised to find a company that offered 100% financing at a good rate, with great terms and rates for medical office financing.”
Carol K. · Chicago, IL“I spoke to several commercial lenders before finding Select Commercial. They got me a lower rate and their service was exceptional. If you need a multifamily loan, you need to talk to Stephen.”
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Gary M. · Portland, OR“Select Commercial offered 100% financing for my medical practice when my bank would have required 20% down. They delivered something my bank could not, and handled everything professionally.”
John C. · Boston, MAGet Your Madison Apartment Loan Quote
Madison quotes start from the rent roll, a trailing-year income and expense statement, the 2026 City assessment notice and latest tax bill, the Building Inspection emergency-contact registration, any open Official Notices or rent abatement awards, and proof of property and flood coverage.
- No application or processing fees
- Written answers within 48 hours
- For 5+ unit and commercial properties, $1.5M and up