"Spain beats again its own investment record in the hotel sector with extraordinary power", said Miguel Vázquez, partner of the Hotels Division of Irea, during a press conference at the Annual Report of the Hotel Investment Market Radiography in Spain in 2017, which the company has been developing for more than ten years.
Last year a total of 182 hotels and 28,813 rooms were transacted in Spain compared to 147 hotels and 21,646 rooms in 2016, which has represented an increase in the number of assets but also in the average price paid per room, which is around €119,000, approximately 30% above the average price reached in 2016 and more than 40% higher than in 2015.
The excellent performance of the tourism industry in Spain (in 2017 it will surpass 82 million foreign visitors, almost 10% more than in 2016) and the solidity of its growth continue to stimulate the attractiveness of this market, which has been reflected in the clear commitment to the projects of reconversion of real estate for hotel use and the return of land transactions for hotel development.
Portfolio transactions increase
As regards portfolio transactions, in 2017 the number and volume of this type of operations has increased significantly. Last year, were transacted 12 hotel portfolios (13,008 rooms), among which the purchase of HI Partners by Blackstone, the purchase of the share of Barceló in SOCIMI Bay by Hispania, as well as the acquisition of a portfolio of 4 Sol hotels by London & Regional to Starwood Capital. The predominance of international investors of institutional type in this sort of operations stands out.
In 2017, more than 60% of the investment was international (€2,379 million). Investment funds have contributed 49% of the total investment of international origin while the REITs and SOCIMI have lost power in the market, scoring 12% of the volume invested compared to 29% materialized in 2016.