The Effect of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and Overbuilt Markets on Commercial Office Property Values

This is the first empirical study to test the impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 on office property values and the impact of regional economic conditions. The results for the period 1983–1988 indicate that it had a significant negative effect on values in all four regions and the highest loss was in the South. The significantly higher losses in the South and the West are supportive of the argument that the effect of tax or regulatory changes on real estate will vary across regions based on vacancy rates and economic growth.