Latin America will not be immune to the global recessionary conditions economists predict in the second half of 2023, but overall, the region’s economic growth as well as hotel industry performance indicate recovery despite lagging pockets.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, we thought Latin America was especially vulnerable to external shocks and we wouldn’t be able to recover GDP until 2024, but by last year most countries had recovered growth,” said Adriana Arreaza, director of macroeconomic studies at Banco de Desarrollo de America Latina, during a hotel and tourism investment forum in Cartagena, Colombia. A calming of inflation is expected to aid business prospects even if a global recession hits.

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Former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua is set to buy 73 New Bond Street, a prominent mixed-use block that includes the Bonds Mayfair bar in London, from investment firm Aviva for about £25 million.

Joshua is likely to win another contest for a block that includes offices and retail fronting New Bond Street in the heart of London’s West End, alongside an adjacent building that includes Bonds Mayfair and a dentist office on Dering Street. The boxer is reported to be looking to buy prime property for purely investment purposes, though he has a range of business interests in related areas such as retail.

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Transaction volume for German commercial real estate amounted to 4.7 billion to 5.7 billion euros in the first quarter, falling short of the 10-year average by about half as investors move away from offices in particular.

Brokerage data showed offices accounted for only €1.3 billion, the weakest volume since 2011. On the one hand, there is a lack of transactions involving portfolios and trophy properties, and on top of that, the work-from-home trend is hitting markets in a second wave as investors “are very consciously factoring this development into their purchase calculations,” BNP Paribas Real Estate reported.

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Investment and development firm Kley Group is changing its name to Boost Society as it launches a new brand called Hife, geared to coliving residential units with shared common spaces.

The Paris-based student housing-focused operator is looking to bolster its European holdings with a brand named for a combination of “high life” and “hive.” Its first two coliving residences are expected to open in September in Labège and Gentilly, targeting customers including young professionals.

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The federal government is keeping an eye on corporate investors in the rental housing market, and some analysts think that could have a ripple effect on publicly traded real estate investment trusts.

“The federal government remains concerned with the financialization of housing across Canada,” according to the 2023 budget released by lawmakers in Ottawa that was thin on details on how the federal government might target REITs or other real estate owners. Lawmakers are seeking ways to curb rent hikes, evictions and other trends in corporate-owned properties that are making housing unaffordable for many Canadians.

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Property prices are plunging at the fastest rate since the Great Recession as higher interest rates slow demand across the United States.

The fallout stems partly from commercial real estate investors closely watching economic developments, particularly the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates eight times in the 12 months through February, according to Chad Littell, national director of capital markets analytics for CoStar. “This increase in the cost of capital happened at the fastest pace in the last 40 years, causing ripples to flow through markets and flattening the growth of asset prices in the latter half of 2022,” he said.

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This report was compiled from CoStar’s international news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.