1. India: Domestic travelers flock to rural hotels
Small, quirky, off-the-beaten-path hotels are becoming a hot industry commodity in India as domestic travelers seek meaningful retreats and an escape from the stresses of the country’s large cities.
Offerings such as a tree house in Jibhi, near Manali in the state of Himachal Pradesh, or a traditional wooden house, albeit with all modern amenities, in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains in state of Ladakh, are among properties seeing high occupancies and outsized average daily rates. “Contrary to the usual opinion that it is foreign tourists who visit these locales, in our experience it is Indians from the metros who want a unique experience,” said Prerna Prasad, founder and CEO of eco-hotel marketing firm Ecoplore.
2. UK: JP Morgan buys loan backing office project
Financial services giant JP Morgan paid about £131.4 million to acquire the loan backing a London property targeted for a major office redevelopment underway by investment firm Brookfield Properties. JP Morgan acquired notes tied to a commercial mortgage backed securities loan, according to public filings.
Toronto-based Brookfield filed plans last month for a major “retrofit-first” of Milton Gate, which houses the headquarters of law firm Addleshaw Goddard but is set to be vacated. Plans call for increasing the building’s size by nearly 50%, to 290,000 square feet, while retaining 70% of the existing structure.
3. France: Property investment posts year-end rebound
French commercial property buyers led a 27% increase in investment volume in the final quarter of 2024 compared with a year earlier, though the full-year tally still fell 2% short of the 2023 total, according to data firm ImmoStat.
Investment totaled about €4.1 billion in the fourth quarter and €12.1 billion for full-year 2024, the firm reported. Analysts at brokerage Cushman & Wakefield said the French market is still suffering from a lag associated with elevated interest rates and an imbalance between supply and demand, though investment conditions showed signs of stabilization in the fourth quarter.
4. Germany: Commercial deal volume gets fourth-quarter bounce
The German commercial property investment market picked up noticeably at the end of 2024, with the fourth quarter’s transaction volume reaching about €8 billion, its highest quarterly level in two years, analysts reported. Moderating interest rates are among factors spurring optimism for 2025 investment.
Figures from several brokerages showed full-year 2024 volume passing €25 billion. Analysts said logistics properties were the most sought-after, with investments rising slightly from the prior year to more than €7 billion, followed by retail properties at more than €6 billion and office buildings at more than €5 billion.
5. Canada: Trudeau exit comes amid housing concerns
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to step down after almost a decade in power came as leaders in his government tackle housing affordability issues and executives in real estate and other industries express concern about potential U.S. tariffs.
Housing demand and prices have increased along with Canada’s population growth, recently topping 1 million people annually. Trudeau’s party began implementing measures to curb growth and introduced plans to limit the number of immigrants granted permanent resident status. The Liberal government has also discussed raising the tax treatment of capital gains from the sale of real estate and other investments.
6. US: BXP sets stage for trophy office development in nation’s capital
If BXP’s return to the capital markets wasn’t enough, the national office landlord is using its recent downtown Washington, D.C., acquisition to set the stage for its first major post-pandemic office development, signaling that it is no longer waiting on the sidelines for the sector’s recovery.
The Boston-based developer, formerly known as Boston Properties, plans to break ground later this year on a 320,000-square-foot trophy office redevelopment three blocks from the White House. The project would replace the existing 12-story property at 725 12th St. NW that BXP acquired for $34 million in the final days of 2024 from a joint venture between Hines and Swift Creek Partners.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.