The office market in Washington DC, is poised to topple New York as the nation's most expensive, reflecting the declining fortunes of the nation's financial center and the government expansion under way in the US capital.

Rents declined in almost all of the 79 American cities tracked by Reis Inc, a New York based-research firm, in the fourth quarter of 2009. The largest fall was in New York, where average effective rents -- or the net amount tenants pay after landlord concessions -- fell nearly 20% to $44.69 per sq ft annually. It was the sharpest decline in rents ever recorded by Reis since it began compiling data in 1981.

Wall Street Journal