The latest report from commercial property consultants CBRE Ireland found that a total of 18 hotel properties sold in Ireland during the first six months of 2017 for a total of almost $85 million.
This compares with 29 hotel sales totaling over $154 million in the same period last year. Hotels sold as investments in the period were specifically excluded.
"Transactional activity in the hotel sector in the first half of 2017, at $85 million, is down year-on-year although momentum is now building after what was a slow start to the year," Lisa Keogh, AD, CBRE Hotels, said in a statement. "The relatively low volume of transactions signed in H1 is largely attributable to a slow start and the scarcity of large-scale assets being released for sale compared to last year. A number of assets that were offered for sale over recent months, including the Connemara Coast Hotel in Galway, The Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim, Co. Meath and the Athlone Springs Hotel in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, are now at an advanced stage of negotiation and expected to reach conclusion imminently."
According to Keogh, up to $68 million worth of transactions are currently being negotiated. CBRE has predicted that up to $283.2 million will be transacted in the Irish hotel sector during 2017 when combined with transaction volumes in the first half of the year and hotels that will go on sale over the coming months.
In April, CBRE reported that seven hotels worth more than $29.5 million among them were sold in Ireland during the first quarter of 2017. The slow start to the year was expected after 66 hotels, totaling $911.8 million, were sold in the Irish market in 2016. "The seven trading hotel sales completed in the Irish market during Q1 2017, compared to 14 sales, totaling more than $53.2 million in the same period last year," Keogh said. While the market slowed, it was very busy behind the scenes preparing hotel assets for sale. Meanwhile, other assets were sold in off-market transactions.