The retreat of commercial banks from real estate lending has catalyzed a historic reallocation of capital. Institutional debt funds and private credit managers, once viewed as secondary high-yield players, have become dominant sources of senior capital. By capturing origination market share, these alternative lenders are underwriting first mortgages at highly conservative LTVs (50–60%) while securing yields historically reserved for mezzanine equity. Firstmortgage lending has become a premium-yield asset
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