50% of Los Angeles metro office sales closed at a loss in the 12 months between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026, according to data from real estate brokerage Colliers. The figure matches the national average for the same period, though Los Angeles lags behind other major markets in deal volume and recovery speed.
Many high-profile sales in the past year have been lender-driven, said Kevin Shannon, co-head of Capital Markets at Newmark. “We’re still at a stage where a lot of your sales are lender-driven, so it’s not surprising that half [of office sales] are at a loss,” Shannon said. “If your seller is a lender, it’s almost always a loss, right? Even if you’re not a lender, there’s a good chance you’re selling at a loss and just trying to recoup as much capital as you can.”
The sale of Bank of America Plaza earlier this year exemplifies this trend. A Brookfield Properties entity defaulted on a $400 million CMBS loan secured by the property before selling it for $210 million, or roughly $150 per square foot. The property had been appraised at $212.5 million in late 2024, down sharply from its $605 million valuation a decade earlier.
Brookfield also sold 333 S. Grand Ave., known as the Wells Fargo Center North, to The 601W Cos. While the sale price was not publicly disclosed, a Colliers report from the second quarter listed it at $150 million, or $107 per square foot for the 1.4 million square foot tower. Brookfield had more than $500M in debt on the property in maturity default.
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In late August, DivcoWest sold a 24-story, 542,000-square-foot office building in Glendale for $70 million—less than half of what it paid in 2017. The sale price works out to roughly $129 per SF. Though not publicly lender-driven, the property secured a $145 million floating-rate loan slated to mature in early 2027.
Large Towers Bearing the Brunt
Colliers’ data shows that larger buildings are suffering the most among office types. Of the 24 buildings over 100,000 square feet that the brokerage tracked in the past 12 months, 79.2% sold at a loss, according to Michael Soto, Colliers’ Regional Research Director for the West Region.
Smaller, lower-rise properties in affluent Westside neighborhoods fared better. In late 2025, Hudson Pacific Properties sold Element LA, a West LA office complex, to its longtime tenant Riot Games for $150 million—roughly $528 per square foot. The buyer also paid $81 million to break its existing lease.
Around the same time, Alo Yoga purchased the 89,000-square-foot La Peer building at 8942 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills for $90 million, over $1,000 per square foot.
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National Comparison and Market Lag
The 50% loss rate in Los Angeles mirrors the national average for the 12-month period ending in Q2 2026. However, other markets show signs of stabilization. In San Francisco, 61% of office sales closed at a loss, while New York City saw 49%, according to Colliers.
Los Angeles lacks a comparable economic engine. “San Francisco’s got the AI engine, and it’s exploding,” Shannon said. “In New York, the financial services sector has been booming.” The entertainment industry, historically a major tenant base, has reduced its space needs considerably in recent years.
“We don’t have that engine,” Shannon added, highlighting the absence of a dominant sector to buoy the market.
