BIG SPENDERS are set to snap up some USD$13 billions'-worth of hotels this year as banks offload unwanted bricks-and-mortar assets.
According to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' (JLLH) Hotel Investment Outlook 2010 report, the world's banks have been reluctant to foreclose on cash-strapped hotels, taking equity instead - and this year they are looking to sell.
Arthur de Haast, JLLH global chief executive, predicts that while there will be few major mergers and acquisitions this year, superrich investors will be looking for "single-asset transactions" - buying individual properties.
"Across the world, the trading of single hotel assets, mostly valued at up to USD$100 million, will initiate the [2010] recovery," de Haast said.
"Equity-rich opportunistic buyers will also look at select larger single-asset transactions in global gateway markets, but our 2010 volume forecast assumes there will be few substantial portfolio transactions."
Buyers are also likely to restrict themselves to their home markets. "The investment landscape in 2010 will remain localised, characterised by subdued cross-border activity as investors remain risk averse and often favour their home markets," the Hotel Investment Outlook 2010 predicts.
"The exception to this trend will be some Asian conglomerates and Middle Eastern investors who will likely scour the global landscape for favourable investment opportunities." Although USD$13 billion would be a considerable improvement on 2009's USD$9 billions'-worth of transactions, it is still well below 2008's USD$24.8 billion total.