Hotel Acquisitions Market Sees Sharp Decline

20th May 2008 (Last Updated May 20th, 2008 08:46)

Hotel investment fell to around US$8bn in the first quarter of 2008, compared to US$20bn in the same period last year, according to a report by real-estate broker Jones Lang LaSalle. Global hotel acquisitions dropped more than 60 percent due to the evaporation of global real estate fin

Hotel investment fell to around US$8bn in the first quarter of 2008, compared to US$20bn in the same period last year, according to a report by real-estate broker Jones Lang LaSalle.

Global hotel acquisitions dropped more than 60 percent due to the evaporation of global real estate financing caused by defaults of US homeowners, the firm says.

CEO Arthur de Haast says he expects to see further declines in the market, Bloomberg reports.

“Hotel owners are preferring to hold their assets and buyers are waiting to see in which direction the market is going to move before they start buying again,” he says.

“We are expecting to see a further decline in buying intention and an increase in holding intention.

“This is just reflecting the fact that there is very limited liquidity in debt markets.”

By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh