The $936 Billion Wall: Bridge Loans And Caribbean and Latin American Developers

New Americas, MIAMI, FL, Sun. June 7, 2026: A financial reckoning is underway in global commercial real estate markets, and Caribbean and Latin American developers are feeling the pressure. More than $936 billion in U.S. commercial real estate loans, including Bridge Loans, are scheduled to mature in 2026, according to PeerSense, a commercial lending research platform – and that number does not account for the mounting debt pressures facing property owners across Latin America and the Caribbean, where local banks have been steadily pulling back from mid-market lending for years.

The result: a growing class of qualified developers and business owners who own significant assets but cannot access the capital they need to move their projects forward.

“Bridge loans close in two to four weeks,” according to PeerSense’s 2026 commercial lending data. “Conventional lenders take 60 to 90 days. Their credit committees are designed for stabilized, income-producing assets – not for the reality of today’s development landscape.”

That reality is particularly acute in the Caribbean and Latin America, where developers frequently own land and commercial assets free and clear but face what industry observers call a “documentation mismatch” – their wealth does not conform to the templates demanded by traditional lenders.

Bridge financing – short-term capital typically structured for 12 to 36 months – has emerged as the primary solution. According to Global Mortgage Group, the underwriting for these instruments centers on property value and a viable exit strategy rather than a borrower’s personal income, employment history, or domestic credit profile.

Current bridge loan rates in 2026 run between 8 and 14.5 percent depending on leverage, according to PeerSense’s lending index, which rose 112 percent year over year – its highest level since 2018.

For Caribbean and Latin American developers, the window is now. Resort developers who purchased prime beach land in cash, industrial park operators in Mexico and Central America, and commercial property owners in São Paulo, Panama City, and Santiago are among the profiles that financial platforms say are most actively seeking bridge capital in 2026.

AI Capital Exchange, a Miami-based AI-powered debt pre-qualification platform powered by Invest Caribbean, says it is seeing growing demand from exactly this borrower profile across the region.

“The borrowers are there. The assets are there. The equity is there. What’s missing is the connection to the right lender – fast enough to make the deal work,” said Felicia J. Persaud, Founder and CEO of AI Capital Exchange. “Bridge financing doesn’t have to take months. We can tell a borrower in under 30 minutes whether they qualify and which institutional lender is the right match for their project.”

The platform, which has filtered more than $205 million in global deal flow since January 2026, operates what it calls the Whale Filter – an AI pre-qualification engine that screens borrowers against real institutional lender criteria before any lender time is spent reviewing a file.

For developers navigating the 2026 maturity wall, the message from the market is clear: bridge financing is no longer a last resort. It is the primary tool — and accessing it faster may be the difference between a project that closes and one that doesn’t.

To check loan eligibility, visit: www.investcaribbeannow.com/capital-readiness-check or pre-qualify now.