Hotel Deal Volume Forecast to Rise Up to 40% Globally in 2010

For the first time in two years, hotel transactions may finally be on the upswing. In a new report, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels forecasts that global hotel transaction volume will increase next year by 20% to 40%.

The brokerage and real estate services firm projects that transaction levels could reach $11 billion to $13 billion in 2010, up from an estimated $9 billion worth of deals in 2009.

Asian investors are expected to play a key role in the investment surge, as they scout for buying opportunities in the United States and Europe.

Across the world, the trading of single hotel assets will initiate the recovery, said Arthur de Haast, global CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. “Entrepreneurial transactions that can be financed regionally or locally will be the first to re-enter the market.”

The projection is encouraging after the anemic showing of 2009. For the year, projected deal volume is down 64% from 2008, when $24.8 billion in hotel transactions were recorded. In its 2010 investment outlook, Jones Lang LaSalle said transactions were expected to rise after hitting the lowest level in a decade.