Prices for commercial properties slid last year but sales were strong, according to CoStar, a commercial real estate analytics company. In terms of prices, the top end of the market ended 2024 “on a sour note as the high and low ends of deal sizes both lost value,” CoStar reported.
CoStar’s “value-weighted” index was down about 3% at the end of December compared to a year earlier. The index, which is weighed heavily on high-valued properties in major cities, also declined by 1.3%.
The company’s “equal weighted” index that measures lower-priced properties in smaller markets, however, increased 2.8% year over year in December, but declined 1.4% compared to November.
Price trends were uneven among property types. Prices for industrial properties were up slightly year over year. Office and multifamily properties generally declined last year, but at a slowing pace. Retail and hospitality asset prices were a mixed picture, while land prices rose, according to CoStar.
Commercial property sales continued to accelerate in December with 1,710 repeat sales representing $14.4 billion in volume.
The month’s tally “marked the sharpest December year-over-year increase in three years,” CoStar reported.
Total sales volume for the year was $114.9 billion, up 15.6% compared to 2023, CoStar said. The spike in sales last year occurred mostly in investment-grade properties, which accounted for 64% of the volume, CoStar wrote.
