1. India: Accor and InterGlobe extend partnership as majority owners of Treebo
French hotel giant Accor and Indian travel-management and hotel-development firm InterGlobe have moved into a second phase of their partnership with the formation of a new Indian travel platform. The Hospitality Enterprise platform has a goal of opening 300 hotels in India under Accor brands by 2030. Accor currently has 71 open hotels in India and Accor and InterGlobe also are investing in a majority share of Indian hotel-franchising firm Treebo, which has approximately 800 hotels across India. As part of the deal, Treebo signed 10 Mercure-branded hotels in India and will become the master franchisor for Accor’s Ibis and Mercure brands in India.
2. UK: Auto Trader deal drives Manchester to best first quarter leasing since 2020
Bruntwood SciTech's signing of Auto Trader to 130,000 square feet at 3 Circle Square helped Manchester city centre to its best first quarter office leasing performance since 2020, according to analysis by the Manchester Office Agents Forum. MOAF found the inner city recorded 319,995 square feet of lettings across 53 deals in the first three months of the year following an active 2024, when 1.22 million square feet transacted in the city centre, in line with the 10-year average. The agents forum argued Auto Trader's deal "underscores the attractiveness of Manchester's office market to major tech companies" as education was also a major player in the first quarter as three deals for a combined 47,572 square feet completed.
3. France: French retail is booming, within limits
With €1.3 billion invested in in this year's first quarter, the French retail sector has made a remarkable start, by being up 53% compared with the five-year average
"A relatively unusual performance, underpinned by a number of large transactions," points out Benjamin Sebban, director of retail investment at CBRE France. But it had limitations: Two XXL transactions accounted for almost 80% of retail investments and 39% of total volume on the commercial real estate market. It included a joint venture created by Kering with Ardian and institutional investors ACM Vie and Mubadala on a portfolio of three Paris assets: Hôtel de Nocé, 35-37 and 56 avenue Montaigne, for €837 million; and CDC Investissement Immobilier's acquisition of a 15% stake in the Forum des Halles round table for €235 million.
4. Germany: Offer prices for new apartments reach record
Prices for newly built condominiums are once again exceeding pre-crisis levels on average across Germany. New quarterly analysis by Empirica shows the average listed price reached a peak of €4,767 per square meter in summer 2022, then fell to €4,728 by mid-2023 but in this year's first quarter reached an all-time high of €4,906 per square meter. Average prices for used apartments, on the other hand, have not yet recovered, but the proportion of districts with rising prices is also increasing again. And the national average for advertised rents for new-build apartments has risen 15% to €12.64 per square meter, more than the €9.98 for existing apartments.
5. Canada: For the first time in a year, central bank holds rates steady
The Bank of Canada opted not to lower interest rates for the first time in more than a year and warned that monetary policy cannot address tariffs, reflecting a new reality for real estate and other industries. With the move, the central bank's trend-setting rate remains at 2.75%, affecting short-term borrowers with loans tied to prime lending rates. The central bank reduced the overnight lending rate by 25 basis points in March and again on Jan. 29. Last year, the Bank of Canada lowered interest rates in June, July, September, October and December.
6. US: Tariffs could pose major threat to economy, banks say
The U.S. economy may be in a relatively stable place at the moment, but in-depth studies and economic modeling by two of the country's largest banks reveal their own good times could quickly disappear if new tariffs remain in place. Banks are mandated by federal regulations to conduct rigorous tests of their own finances to assess whether they hold enough capital to withstand a steep economic downturn. Chief executives at Bank of America and PNC Financial Services Group both said Tuesday those tests revealed that their banks have the capital needed to stand up to financial turmoil, but tariffs pose a significant threat to the economy.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.