Moody's: Commercial Real Estate Prices Dive 3.1% in July

By: Alison Rich

U.S. commercial real estate prices as measured by Moody’s/Real Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI) tumbled 3.1 percent in July, the second consecutive monthly drop of more than 3 percent.

Across the nation, prices are 43.2 percent under their October 2007 peak and just 0.9 percent higher than the recession trough posted in October 2009.

The CPPI has dipped 7.3 percent in the past year and has fallen 35.9 percent in the past two years.

“Commercial real estate markets were caught in a downdraft as the economy appeared to further weaken in the early part of 2010, resulting in relatively large

declines in the index in the early summer,” said Moody’s Managing Director Nick Levidy.

Levidy added, “The recent performance, while perhaps somewhat discouraging, should not come as a complete surprise. We have noted for several months that markets are likely to remain choppy for some time as property values slowly form a bottom in conjunction with a gradual recovery of the broader economy.” (more)