waterhouse cooper. office rents may decline as much as 20% in two of the big metro areas in this country, new york city and san francisco. on squawk box richard la frock explained how bad it is out there. demand has dried up so severely even if i look a year or two down the road, i can t see the need for anymore facilities, anymore square footage to be built. that is why his firm has no buildings under construction for the first time in 15 years. boston, vornado and brookfield are all trading higher. as we go to the closing bell, gold is at $1009. thanks for watching. time for the closing bell with maria. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says the recession probably over technically, but the economy will feel weak for some time to come. the government hopes to begin distribution of a new swine flu vaccine now it has been approved by fda. in southern california home sale prices rose last month, a reversal of the previous month s pattern. cnbc news now. i m bertha