Hotel Real Estate Sales Continues Hyper-Active Trend in 2007, 2008

Highlights of the report point out that 2007 was a mixed bag, ranging from mega-deals, such as the Blackstone Group's purchase of Hilton Hotels Corporation, valued at $26.3 billion, to transactions below $5 million. Transactions in the under $15 million category were particularly plentiful in 2007, with 426 reported sales. "Industry-wide, we tracked 736 transactions last year, with the average hotel sold having 196 rooms and generating an average price per key of a record $117,000, up from $110,000 a room in 2006 and up from the decade low of $52,000 in 2000," said Brandt Niehaus, CHB, HBI president and president of Louisville-based Huff, Niehaus & Associates. "The trend toward higher pricing reflected the operating strength of the industry in 2007, which produced a 5.7 percent improvement in RevPAR, according to Smith Travel Research."