Hotel sales throughout the state jumped dramatically
during the first half of 2010, an indication that the hospitality
industry is starting to shake off the economic doldrums of the last
year.
In San Diego County, five hotels, including the posh
Rancho Valencia, were sold during the first six months, compared to
three sales during the same period a year earlier, according to a
mid-year survey released Thursday by Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality
Group. The dollar volume of the sales, which totaled nearly $67
million, was up 44 percent.
Statewide, individual sales rose 59 percent, while the
value of those transactions surged 172 percent.
“We’re definitely off the bottom of where we were last
year, and even though revenues for hotels are flat year to date, in
June and July, San Diego is showing a good rebound, up about 10
percent,” said Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality. “A lot of
buyers who were sitting on the fence are saying now we better get in,
and that should cause prices to go up.”
Reay also pointed out that there are fewer distressed
properties on the market as lenders opt to modify troubled loans rather
than take back hotels that have fallen in value.
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The 54-room Rancho Valencia was purchased earlier
this year by an investment group for $15.5 million> |