“The hardest-hit properties are not luxury homes, but multifamily, commercial and industrial buildings — the very types we need to support housing production and job growth,” Smith said.
A commercial decline hurts the city in two ways, the report says. First, commercial properties often sell for significantly more than single-family homes, so even a slight decrease in sales leads to a large drop in tax revenue. In addition, commercial sales typically lead to new multifamily development, which the city desperately needs in the midst of a housing crisis.