- EUR 1.3 billion transaction volume in 2024 as a whole - up 10 per cent year-on-year
- Deals with operator-free properties dominate
- Prime yields remain at 5.50 per cent
Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world’s largest real estate consultancies, recorded a total transaction volume of EUR 1.3 billion in the German hotel segment from January to December 2024. This corresponds to an increase of 10 per cent compared to the previous year. Despite this increase, the transaction volume was still around 60 per cent below the 10-year average. The largest transactions of the year as a whole included the sale of Accor Invest’s hotel portfolio to BC Partners Real Estate in the portfolio segment and the sale of the Rocco Forte Hotel in Berlin in the individual transactions segment.
The following sales were among the largest transactions in Q4 2024, which had the second-highest quarterly volume of the year at EUR 360 million:
- The sale of the 293-room Le Meridien Hotel Stuttgart to a joint venture between HWS Immobilien und Vermögensverwaltung GmbH and the hotel operator MHP Hotel AG. The seller was Union Investment.
- The sale of the Moxy Hotel in I/D Cologne with 222 rooms by Art-Invest Real Estate and Osmab Holding. Strabag Hold Estate thus completed its first purchase; a Moxy Hotel in Vienna was also acquired at the same time.
- In addition, a 4-hotel portfolio of B&B Hotels was sold by Covivio to Art-Invest.
2024 at a glance:
- Prime yields for hotel investments remained unchanged at 5.50 per cent throughout the year.
- Almost half (EUR 600 million, 46 per cent) of the transaction volume was attributable to foreign investors
- The ratio of portfolio to individual transactions was 1:3 for the year as a whole, meaning that only around 25 per cent of the investment volume was attributable to package sales. In the 4th quarter, individual transactions accounted for almost 87 per cent of the quarterly volume.
- The majority of the 2024 investment volume (around two thirds) was generated in the top 7 markets.
Christine Mayer, Head of Hotel Valuation Germany & Austria at Cushman & Wakefield, on the outlook for the investment market: ‘In addition to the operator-free sales and takeovers by owner-operators that predominated in the first three quarters, the last quarter of 2024 saw more transactions with existing operator contracts. The noticeable increase in transaction activity since the beginning of 2024 has recently slowed slightly, possibly in anticipation of a reduction in yield requirements as a consequence of the latest ECB interest rate cuts. As in previous quarters, the fourth quarter was characterised by individual transactions.’
