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U.S. commercial property prices managed to close out 2025 with a small win.
Pricing for commercial assets inched up just 0.2 percent year over year in December, according to RCA’s commercial property index. However, they were down 0.4 percent compared to the month before.
The biggest winner among the main sector types was office, which saw prices up 2.8 percent year over year. The rise was fueled by suburban offices. Prices for those properties grew 2.7 percent compared to the year before — the largest yearly spike since August 2023, according to RCA. Meanwhile, offices in central business districts saw their pricing plunge 2.9 percent year over year.
The U.S. office sector has had a tricky year due to uneven recovery from the pandemic, which led to scores of vacancies in major markets across the country. However, demand spiked for Class-A buildings with employers continuing to call workers back to the office, and developers increasingly turned to converting empty buildings into residential complexes.
Pricing for both CBD and suburban offices is still far away from where it was five years ago — down nearly 12 percent, according to the RCA CPPI for December. That’s the steepest drop among the main commercial property types, though CBD properties, as a submarket, have the worst showing five years out. Prices for that subtype have tanked almost 48 percent compared to five years ago.
Industrial properties also fared well in 2025. Prices for the asset class nationally climbed 2 percent year over year. However, they were almost flat compared to November 2025, edging down just 0.3 percent.
Industrial assets have long seen high demand because of the skyrocketing growth of e-commerce and fast delivery expectations. The rise of AI also has underpinned demand for industrial properties but requires more resources to renovate.