Christie+Co: hotel market improving

A reasonably upbeat message about the future of the hotel market has been issued by Christie+Co.

Jeremy Hill, director of hotels, said confidence and trading levels continue to improve. He said: "The market is more robust than 12 months ago, with more equity available. However, would-be buyers are still frustrated by a lack of realistically-priced opportunities."

Hill noted that for the majority of 2009, the market "was hampered by a lack of finance". He added: "While a flood of funding has not materialised in 2010, there is equity in the marketplace and those investors willing to enter the sector now do so at a relatively low-value point. From our recent conversations with investors and owners, there is a desire to do deals, which wasn't the case during most of last year."

He said one of the few things holding back a stronger performance was a lack of quality stock, "as many reluctant sellers look to hold on to their assets, waiting for values to recover".

The London market was leading the recovery, but elsewhere the market "remains more susceptible to outside influences such as spending cuts".

He continued: "Despite this, there are early signs of a recovery taking place in the provinces, with trading performance showing tentative signs of improvement."

However, Hill added that the lack of hotels on the market was more pronounced in the London region.