Commercial real estate prices in the U.S. dropped by almost 15 percent in 2008, more than home prices, with fourth-quarter depreciation the greatest in the national apartment market, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report.

The price decline eliminated the gains seen in 2006 and 2007 and returned values to 2005 levels, according to the Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices. Prices fell 2.2 percent in December from November, said New York-based Moody’s.

Commercial values are now down more than 16 percent from their peak in October 2007, said Moody’s. The deepening recession is causing tenants to cut jobs and vacate space, bringing down building incomes, while the credit freeze is making it difficult to finance property purchases.

“The commercial real estate market has followed the larger economy into a downturn that is likely to last through 2009 and possibly into 2010,” Prudential Real Estate Investors said in its quarterly outlook in January. “With unemployment rising, consumer spending falling and home prices dropping, the recession will impact all sectors of the real estate market.”

Commercial real estate prices fell more than home prices last year. The median price of a U.S. home declined 12 percent to $180,100 in the fourth quarter from a year earlier and sales of properties with mortgages in default accounted for 45 percent of all transactions, according to the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors.