Givertz expected to see both single assets and portfolios come to market. Equally important, he says “we believe the volume of premium hotels, which mostly have been on the sidelines over the past few years, will increase noticeably.”

Looking into 2013/2014 Givertz made the following observations about a number of Western markets:

• Oahu, Hawaii—“This market is white hot,” he says. “With occupancy at 88.5% last year, its operating results were second only to Manhattan.”
• Other highly active markets—Givertz said that the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Portland and Seattle will be quite active over the next two years. “Oakland also has seen healthy activity.”
• REITs—The West Coast, particularly California, remains highly attractive to REITs which resumed activity in the past year. “Look for increased Wall Street investment in 2013 and beyond,” Givertz predicts.
• New Construction—“There isn't a great deal of development activity today, but we expect to see construction start to return, especially in Southern California, which has been stagnant the past five years,” he notes.

“Older hotels in strong locations that will benefit from repositioning are in high demand,” Givertz says. “Owners seek these deep turn-around opportunities, especially for conversions to premium-branded select-service hotels. Financing is becoming less of an issue. Our capital markets division says lenders remain conservative, but that they are working closely with them to obtain funding at historically attractive rates.”