WSJ found out about the sale of office buildings in the USA with big discounts

A large-scale sale of office buildings is taking place in the USA, some of them have already been sold at a discount of 90%. This was reported on April 7 by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

"The American office real estate market is going through a crisis. Prices for some buildings have been reduced by more than 90%," the article says.

According to the newspaper, in Chicago, developer Mark Calabria purchased an office building with an area of 4.5 thousand square meters for $ 4 million. At the same time, 10 years ago, this building was sold for $68.1 million. Developer Asher Luzzatto paid $5.3 million for a complex of two office buildings, which in 2013 was sold for $176 million.

It is noted that property owners have been hoping for an improvement in the situation for years after the COVID-19 pandemic, when most of the company's employees left for remote work. Now they have begun to "come to terms with the reality" that more and more people are working from home. High interest rates also have a negative impact, which reduce the value of real estate and make it difficult for buyers to obtain loans.

"Most office real estate transactions reflect a sharp decline in this sector. According to the Green Street analytical company, even high—quality facilities have lost about 35% in value on average compared to the peak," the newspaper clarifies.

Buyers purchase office buildings in major American cities "for about the price of a three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan." This forces some owners to convert buildings into residential buildings.

In November last year, the house in Queens, where US President Donald Trump spent the first four years of his life, was put up for sale. It was noted that after the overhaul, the value of the property has almost tripled, to $2.3 million.

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