How long a HUD 232/223(f) loan takes in 2026

A HUD 232/223(f) loan closed in fiscal 2025 took a median of 235 days from the day HUD received the firm application, according to HUD’s own closings file. That clock starts after the appraisal, property condition report and environmental report are done, so the owner’s full timeline is longer. The part after the firm commitment has been slowing: HUD’s endorsement database shows a median of 126 days from firm commitment to closing for 223(f) loans closed in fiscal 2026 through June, against 76 to 84 days in fiscal 2016 through 2020.

The steps, with HUD’s numbers

HUD’s fiscal 2025 closings file records the dates for 170 223(f) loans from application to closing:

Step	Median	Middle half
Application received to underwriter assigned	95 days	80 to 115
Application received to firm commitment	146 days	121 to 176
Firm commitment to closing	101 days	83 to 140
Application received to closing	235 days	202 to 286

The step medians do not add up exactly, because each is a median of its own set of loans: the firm-to-closing figure covers all 329 223(f) closings, the others the 170 with an application date. Put together they run about 12 days longer than the 235-day median.

Firm commitment to closing, year by year

From the endorsement database, for 223(f) loans by the fiscal year they closed:

Fiscal year	Loans	Median days
2016	258	78
2017	271	79
2018	287	76
2019	271	84
2020	255	83
2021	184	91
2022	149	86
2023	173	81
2024	220	96
2025	330	101
2026 (through June)	278	126

Volume rose too. HUD closed 330 223(f) loans in fiscal 2025, the most of any year in the table, and 278 in the first three quarters of fiscal 2026. Volume does not fully explain the slowdown: fiscal 2018 closed 287 loans at a median 76 days. HUD does not publish a reason.

What shortens it

• Express Lane: since June 2025, 223(f) applications that meet ORCF’s low-risk criteria get priority in the underwriting queue. The current criteria (March 31, 2026) include at most 70% loan to value and 2.0 times coverage on the skilled nursing portion (1.6 on the rest) using unadjusted trailing 12-month NOI. In the week to October 14, 2026, three 223(f) assignments had waited 8 to 14 days and the other six 59 to 166 days; HUD’s report does not say which were Express Lane.
• A complete closing package, early: HUD assigns 223(f) closers first in, first out for complete packages with a requested closing date within 45 days of submission (ORCF notice of July 9, 2025).
• A clean application: HUD gives lenders 10 business days to cure deficiencies (Handbook 4232.1, 1.4.C); a deficiency notice stops the clock for everyone.

What it means for a bridge loan

If a bridge loan is waiting on the HUD takeout, size its term to HUD’s numbers: the middle half of fiscal 2025 223(f) loans took 202 to 286 days from application to closing, before the time to prepare the application. Run your own dates, or check this week’s queue.