Hotel sales and acquisitions will likely accelerate in the second half of the year as buyers seek distressed properties, a top hotel executive told Bloomberg News Service.

“It’s not necessarily the right time yet to sell, but often some condition makes it necessary for a hotel company to do so, such as debt coming due or the need for cash for a restructuring,” Arthur Adler, managing director and Americas chief executive officer at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels said in a telephone interview.
The value of U.S. hotel properties in default or foreclosure almost doubled to $17.3 billion in the second quarter through June 24 from $9 billion at the end of the first quarter, according to New York-based Real Capital Analytics. Hotel owners are defaulting as rates and property values tumble in the recession and the securitized loan market remains dormant.
Global hotel transactions in the first half fell 78 percent to $3.7 billion from the same period a year earlier, according to data from LaSalle Hotels. The company’s parent is Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., the second-largest publicly traded commercial property broker.