Cornell Hotel Indices First Quarter 2024: Large Hotels Reach a New Statistical Low
Only the Midwest, South Atlantic, and West South-Central regions posted moderate single-digit hotel-price gains in the first quarter 2024 (Midwest, 3.2%; South Atlantic, 3.8%; and West South-Central, 1.6%). Hotels in gateway cities experienced a reversal, exhibiting better performance than hotels in non-gateway cities this quarter. Transaction volume fell year over year and quarter over quarter for both large and small hotels in gateway and non-gateway cities. Standardized prices of large hotels continue to soften while those of smaller hotels remain relatively stationary. The cost of hotel debt financing and the delinquency rate for hotels rose in the recent quarter, even though credit spreads continued to tighten and relative risk narrowed. As in prior periods, borrowing costs still exceed the return on hotels. Expect to see a rise in the price of large hotels and a decline in prices for small hotels next quarter based on our leading indicators of hotel price performance.
