UK-based investors were responsible for almost 60% of the investment by value in the Irish hotel property sector in the first six months of 2013.
UK-based investors were responsible for almost 60% of the investment by value in the Irish hotel property sector in the first six months of 2013.
CBRE recorded 13 completed hotel transactions with a total value of €43 mln in the Irish market during H1 2013. Ten of these transactions were signed in the second quarter.
The property adviser predicted that the full-year volume may surpass the 2012 level of 24 hotel deals given that several hotel transactions have been agreed in recent weeks following the end of the quarter, others are under negotiation and more hotel properties are to be launched for sale in the autumn.
Some of the most notable hotel sales concluded in the first half include the sale of the 5-star Ashford Castle in Co. Mayo, which was sold to the UK-based Red Carnation Group for an estimated €18 mln; Doonbeg Hotel and Golf Resort in Co. Clare, which was sold to US property investment firm South Street Partners; the 120-bed Clanree Hotel in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, which was sold to a Dubai-based investment company and the Kincora Hall Hotel in Killaloe, Co. Clare, which sold for more than €500,000 to a local businessman.
Skewed by some of the larger hotel transactions that signed in the six-month period, over 58% of the value of hotel sales in H1 2013 emanated from UK buyers. A further 26.8% of Irish hotel sales were purchased by US buyers with Irish buyers accounting for 8.3% of Irish hotel sales in the six-month period. This figure will alter as the year progresses and some of the more high-profile hotel sales currently in negotiations are concluded.
