The number of Los Angeles County hotel transactions remained flat in the first half of 2015.

However, total dollar volume jumped 404%. The county's average price per room rose 241%, and

the median price per room was up 105%.

The 350-room The Westin Pasadena was the largest Los Angeles County sale, while the 297-room SLS Hotel, Beverly Hills was the most expensive sale, at $195 million.

San Diego County

Hotel sales in San Diego County decreased 16%, with total dollar volume down 1%.

The average price per room increased 43%, and the median price per room went up 24%.

The largest hotel sold was 419-room Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine. The most expensive county

sale was the over $259 million paid for the 249-room Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego.

Orange County

In the first half of 2015, Orange County hotel sales decreased 21%, but dollar volume rose 45%. The average price per room went up 65%, and median price per room increased 78%.

The largest Orange County sale was the 489-room Irvine Marriott, while the most expensive sale was the $360 million paid for the 260-room Montage Laguna Beach. This equated to almost $1.4 million per room.

Inland Empire

Riverside County transactions increased 38%, and total dollar volume went up 112%. San Bernardino County sales dropped 40%, with total dollar volume down 37%. In Riverside County, the average price per room went down 23%, and the median price decreased 9%.

San Bernardino County had a 28% increase in average price per room, and a 36% increase in median price per room. The largest and most expensive Riverside County hotel sale was the over $65 million paid for the 410-room Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel.

The largest San Bernardino County sale was the 108-room Homewood Suites in San Bernardino, while the most expensive sale was the $8.2 million paid for the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in San Bernardino.

San Francisco County

In the first half of 2015, San Francisco County saw a 58% decrease in sales transactions, but a 120% increase in total dollar volume. The county's average price per room went up 127%, and the median price per

room jumped 247%. The largest and most expensive California hotel sale in the first half of 2015 was the $530 million paid for the 1,024-room Parc 55 in San Francisco.

Alameda County

Alameda County individual transactions were down 57%, and total dollar volume decreased 36%. The average price per room went down 18%, and the median

price per room decreased 36%. The largest and most expensive sale was the $84 million paid for the 482-room Oakland Marriott City Center.

Sonoma County

Sonoma County transactions increased 167%, with total dollar volume up 821%.

The average price per room was down 44%, and the median price per room decreased 53%.

The largest hotel and most expensive sale was the $28 million paid for the 170-room Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa.

The report concludes that the markets continue to see records being broken in terms of total dollar volume. The$4.4 billion in California hotels sales in the first six months of 2015. This eclipses all of the previous mid-year totals since the firm began tracking sales in 1994.

Major factors driving the huge transaction volume include:

• The improving economic fundamentals that are driving revenue and profit up.

• The availability of financing at still very low historical rates.

• The huge buyer demand looking for higher yields that hotels offer versus other forms of real estate.

• 1031 exchange buyers.

“The current discussion on raising interest rates, coupled with the expanding pipeline of new hotel rooms, will have an impact on sales moving forward,” the report predicted. “We simply can't maintain the pace seen over the last 12-18 months.”