Last year might have been the year that couldn't quite fulfill hotel transaction dreams, but this year is starting off on a better foot.
Daniel Peek, president of the JLL Hotels & Hospitality team, told Hotel News Now in a video interview that while 2024's hotel transaction activity was "below expectations," it's time to put last year in the rearview mirror and approach 2025 with better clarity.
"We've seen tremendous improvements in the debt market in the fourth quarter of last year and starting this year," Peek said. "All of the legs of the stool are participating — the life companies, the debt funds, the banks, the CMBS market — very, very vibrant."
That debt market liquidity will power transactions this year, Peek said, beyond whether and how much more interest rates will drop.
The trigger must be equity conviction, he said.
"There's probably never been more equity available for real estate generally and hotels specifically," he said. "The real question is going to come down to conviction — where do they want to invest and at what level?"
JLL's Global Hotel Investment Outlook 2025 calls for hotel investment volume globally to exceed 2024 levels by 15% to 25%, led by deals in the Americas. That's markedly different from how investments played out in 2024, when volume in the Americas dropped 15% from the prior year.
Urban city centers are again projected to attract the lion's share of hotel investment dollars, Peek said. JLL's research calls for London, New York and Tokyo to be hot spots in particular.
"The real growth right now is in corporate transient and group, and that really feeds the urban markets," he said.
While leisure travel booms fueled recovery and investment in warmer U.S. locations post-pandemic — such as Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina — the renewed push on return to office is fueling what Peek called "the traditional corporate markets."
"The New Yorks, the Bostons, the DCs, even to some degree Chicago and San Francisco, are examples of markets starting to recover and get the attention of investors," he said. "We think it's a great trend and where we have really seen a lot of pent-up transaction activity."
For more from Peek on hotel transaction trends, how brand companies are chasing unit growth in a low-supply environment and more, watch the video above.