As expected, the pace of hotel sales in Ireland seems to be declining following two years of record highs. The latest stats from CBRE Ireland found that 23 hotels have changed hands during the first nine months of 2017 for a total of more than €87 million. At the same time, the first three quarters of the year also saw almost €70 million of hotel investment activity (counted separately in investment spend numbers).
Last year, CBRE reported 65 hotels sold in the country for a total of more than €800 million. In 2015, the country had 63 hotel sales for a total of €710 million.
CBRE said that the relatively low volume of transactions (especially compared to recent years) can be attributed to the scarcity of large-scale assets available for sale compared to last year. Notably, very few Dublin hotels have changed hands this year.
In April, Lisa Keogh, associate director at CBRE Hotels Ireland, said that the decline had been anticipated. "The market is very busy behind the scenes as hotel assets are being prepared for sale and other sales processes are being conducted off-market," she told Insider Media at the time. "However, very few hotel properties have been formally launched for sale so far this year, which is frustrating considering the weight of capital chasing opportunities at present."
However, the property consultants say there is currently more than €63 million of hotel transactions that have been agreed to, and a further €6 million of transactions with signed contracts, which will boost transactional activity for the final quarter of the year.