The hotel industry is closely watching where Chinese outbound travelers will go and when as the world’s second-largest population and largest traveling cohort fully emerges from the pandemic.
Speakers at the World Travel Market conference in London said Chinese guests’ preferences and requirements have already changed, as high-spending independent travelers replace large travel groups heading outside the country. Vacations highlighting cultural immersion, enriched experience, digital engagement and off-the-beaten-track destinations are replacing traditional European itineraries, as travelers born post-1990 have become the dominant overseas travel segment.
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Banking giant HSBC has completed leasing arrangements for its new London headquarters, as it relocates from the more than 1 million square feet it has occupied in the Canary Wharf district for more than two decades.
HSBC is taking 556,000 square feet at the former British Telecom headquarters building near St Paul’s Cathedral in London, with the relocation expected to take place in 2027 when the bank’s lease on the 45-floor tower at 8 Canada Square expires. Market sources said HSBC is paying a blended rent of around £87 per square foot.
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German investment firm Deka Immobilien sold a portfolio consisting of two office buildings in France’s Bordeaux and Boulogne-Billancourt regions, along with 7,200 square meters of retail space in Paris. The buyer was investment firm AM Alpha.
The cost of the transaction is about €100 million, according to sources. For Deka Immobilien, however, the deal process is only just beginning, as AM Alpha is set to acquire from Deka Immobilien another Bordeaux building with tenants including France’s government department that oversees employment, Business Immo has learned.
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Transaction prices on the German real estate market fell more sharply in the third quarter than in the second, according to banking analysts.
The nationwide price index of the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks, based on both residential and commercial real estate, showed prices fell by 1.7% from the prior quarter for residential properties and dropped 2.5% for offices. Declines were lower in the second quarter at 0.9 % and 1.9 % respectively, but higher in the first quarter at 2% and 5%. By contrast, prices for retail properties fell by 1.2% in the third quarter, slightly less than in the prior two quarters.
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Apartment real estate investment trusts in Canada are continuing to post major rent increases as the country grapples with an increasingly undersupplied housing market.
Toronto-based Canadian Apartment Properties REIT, which owns and manages about 65,000 apartment suites in Canada and Europe, said rents across its portfolio averaged $1,490 per month for the third quarter, up from $1,387 a year earlier, in a portfolio that is nearly 99% leased. “This [increase] reflects the tight rental conditions we are operating in today,” said Mark Kenney, president and CEO of CAPREIT, in a conference call with analysts. “Our rent growth was strong enough to offset higher property operating costs, which resulted from inflationary pressures and increased repairs and maintenance expenses.”
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A new survey from the Family Travel Association shows a strong rebound in international travel among families, with 81% of parents surveyed saying they are “likely to travel with their children in the next year.”
The 2023 U.S. Family Travel Survey, in conjunction with the New York University School of Professional Studies Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality and Edinburgh Napier University, polled 3,300 parents and grandparents about travel plans and sentiment. The survey found that despite a high intent to travel, 59% of parents said costs will be a challenge.
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This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.