[kolp]

One way of looking at the "destruction" of the value of the property is based on Net Present Value of future rent payments. Let's take one hypothetical building, its owner and its tenant.

The market value of this building (not its construction cost) is the Net Present Value of future rent payments to be made by a tenant to the owner. There is a scheduled, anticipated transfer of value from tenant to owner based upon the agreed market rental value of the building.

When the agreed market rental rate declines, the amount of value to be transferred from tenant to owner declines and consequently, the present value of those future payments is lower. This is the basis for journalists or commentators to say that value has been destroyed. But, the value hasn't been "destroyed"; it has been transferred to the tenant in the form of the net present value of his rent reduction.