NEW YORK CITY-The Moody’s/REAL All Property Type Aggregate Index hit a new low in August, the ratings agency said Tuesday. With a 3.3% decrease to 105.37 from the month before, it surpasses the previous low mark of 107.98 set in October 2009, and prices have effectively returned to early 2002 levels.

“The data suggest that the commercial real estate market has become trifurcated, with prices for larger trophy assets rising, prices for distressed assets declining sharply and prices for smaller but healthy properties remaining essentially flat,” writes senior analyst Nick Levidy in the report. He adds that one way to view index returns is by looking at the interplay of these three components within the overall market. “The index again turned negative this month in part because large negative returns on distressed properties created a drag that outweighed the positive and flat results of the performing properties.”

In December 2000, when Moody’s and Real Estate Analytics began the Commercial Property Price Indices, the Consumer Price Index was pegged at 100. From the start of the decade through the beginning of the economic downturn, commercial real estate prices grew at a much faster rate than inflation, writes Levidy. That changed about a year ago.