The figure is, of course, provisional and undoubtedly discounts the unhappy momentum of other sectors. And to think that only last October many would have thought it was fake news. Instead, in the first half of this year, assets were the class on which most commercial real estate investments in Italy were concentrated: something less than €1 billion out of a total of just over €3 billion. They were followed by offices, and retail space came in third place.
So said Domenico Basanisi at the presentation of the latest Cbre study on the Italian real estate market, underlining another important fact about hotel investors: not only has the domestic component of capital regained share, returning to be the majority, but as many as 55% of those who have made acquisitions are owner-operators: "We are coming from two years of large cash flows. And so there are those who have taken advantage of this to buy,- explained Basanisi. -While on the sellers' side, these are generally buyers who maximize pricing, as their motivations often go beyond financial considerations, and are also based on industrial and marketing logics.”
Core capital, on the other hand, is still dormant: 'On paper it is there, it is active, but it has minimal impact. In the first half of 2024 it was around 10%. And the trend is likely to remain the same for the rest of the year. The so-called value-add investors are still the most active part of the market.” Looking ahead Basanisi predicts a trend towards market polarization, with value-add capital tending to be concentrated on the higher-end properties, while the mid and lower-scale segments will be mainly the domain of owner-operators.
Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist
