The asking rent declined to $29.27 a square foot from $32.06 a square foot in the third quarter of 2002.
The average asking rent declined slightly to $47.59 a square foot from the peak of $47.78 a square foot in October.
But the number of stores available for rent declined from the 2,010 last Sept. 30, and the average size of stores for rent went down from 6,236 square feet at that time to 5,715 square feet at the end of March.
The biggest rent declines have occurred mostly in cities, like Memphis, where land is abundant but building regulations are not and where housing costs were already among the least expensive of the country's urban areas.
But the union, which represents 30,000 workers in residential buildings, said that the market hit bottom six months ago, and that the recession did not strike residential buildings owners in the city very hard, with rent declines in the single digits and vacancy rates remaining low.
Mr. Parkus said that vacancy increases and rent declines already mirrored what happened in the 1990s, and until new jobs were created, generating an increase in demand for commercial space and more retail spending, this was not likely to be reversed.
Most retail properties have only seen 30percentt of their potential rent declines, according to the country's third-biggest credit rating agency.
Shopping centers are facing increased competition — not least from online retailers — and in many cases are seeing rents decline, leaving them unable to pay mortgage interest.
Building values are dropping as unemployment worsens, offices empty, rents decline, credit remains tight and buyers expect higher rewards for taking on more risk.
Retail prices dropped by 1.2% in the year to April, the biggest fall in the 60-year history of the index, while the narrower measure of consumer-price inflation sagged to 2.3%, only a bit above the 2% target.The property market is experiencing its own version of deflation as rents decline.
