Half Of Hotel Investors Want To Buy This Year: CBRE

Hotel investors are so back.

More than half of hotel investors across the globe plan to buy more this year than they did last year, according to CBRE’s Hotel Investor Intentions Survey of 300 investors. Only 14% expect to buy less.

In the U.S., one-quarter of investors surveyed plan a large spike in their buying intentions, and another quarter plan a small increase. That could lead to a major rebound from 2023. There was only about $53B of hotel sales last year, a 33% downturn from 2022. 

Value-add and other opportunistic assets top investors' wishlists, with 75% of those surveyed globally targeting those types of deals.

Investors said New York is the most attractive U.S. market for hotel acquisitions, followed by Miami, Charleston and Boston. Restrictions on Airbnb helped push up room rates to record highs in New York last year, the report shows.

CBRE predicts revenue per available room will grow 4.1% over the year at urban locations as travel for group, business and international guests increases. Resorts should expect 2% RevPAR growth.

The most favored location types are resorts, followed by central business districts, suburban areas and airports. 

As far as quality goes, CBRE reported full-service hotels globally should get the most attention from capital, but in the U.S., smaller or limited-service offerings are the most attractive to investors.

However, the cost of capital and labor is still a major concern for most investors, whose level of activity has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.