Hotel transactional volumes more than halved in H1 23

The transactional volumes of hotels being sold in the UK more than halved in the first half of 2023, according to data from Christie and Co.

The hotels mid-year review from the estate agent also found that the bid-ask spread between sellers seeking value for their record performance and buyers having to factor in debt costs in their pricing has widened.

Individual deals dominated market activity due to the challenges around financing of portfolios in particular.

The market in Scotland has seen a boost as it is able to “offer better value for money” than parts of England.

This was shown in the sale of the Crerar Hotel Group to Blantyre Capital and Fairtree Hotel Investments.

In London, there remained an imbalance between supply and demand however investment from overseas remained steady.

Christie and Co added it is “confident” that the second half of 2023 will be more prolific based on the uplift in deals agreed in recent weeks.

Carine Bonnejean, managing director of Hotels, said: “Whilst market activity remained sluggish for most of H1, we started to see some positive signs of a shift in the lead up to summer, suggesting that activity will be stronger during H2.

“We have brought several exciting opportunities to market in recent months, including a portfolio of coast and country assets with very strong interest received to date, which is a good barometer of buyer appetite. We remain optimistic that we will see increased opportunities throughout the rest of 2023.”