In one sentence
Net operating income divided by the loan amount, a value-independent measure of how hard the loan is working.
The longer version
Debt yield answers a blunt question: if the lender owned this loan at par, what unlevered return would the property's income produce? A 10% debt yield on an $8M loan means $800K of NOI. Because it ignores appraised value and interest rates, it resists the optimism that inflates both.
CMBS and institutional lenders lean on minimum debt yields precisely because cap rates compress in hot markets while debt yield stays honest.
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