Prices for office real estate in the United States continue to fall, and, according to the forecast of Fitch Ratings, this trend will continue, reports Business Insider. The bottom has not yet been reached, and the collapse may be comparable to the collapse of the times of the global crisis of 2008 or even surpass it, the agency believes.

So far, the fall in prices has reached 35% and approached the minimum value for four years. According to experts, if they start to recover, the process will be longer than after the global crisis. Contributing to this are high interest rates, tight refinancing conditions and the steady popularity of the remote format of work. As Goldman Sachs reported, in the U.S. at the end of last year, 20-25% of workers were working from home. This situation significantly reduces demand for office space, Fitch said.

Under the influence of these factors, a permanent decline in real estate prices is possible. In January, the IMF pointed out that their fall is the sharpest in the last 50 years against the background of rising borrowing costs.