(IND) Hotel investments up 30 percent in 2013

U.S. hotel investments were up 30 percent last year, according to a report from Colorado-based STR Analytics.

STR reported $16.9 billion in hospitality transactions.

“After a relatively slow year in 2012, it’s promising to see hotel investment activity regain momentum in 2013,” said Steve Hennis, director at STR Analytics. “We anticipate deal volume to rise again in 2014 with demand compression and only modest levels of new hotel supply fueling the appetite of the hotel real estate sector.”

The national average price-per-key in 2013 was $192,000, and only 7 percent of transactions involved distressed assets, according to STR.

Also of note, the average interest rate for financing acquisitions was 4.6 percent, the lowest on record. And investors spent, on average, $27,000 per room, following the transaction for capital improvements, according to STR.

In Pennsylvania, the investment volume was $272 million last year compared with $63 million in 2012, according to STR. The price-per-room was $91,000 compared with $82,000 in 2012.

Source: Central Penn Business Journal