NATIONAL REPORT— According to a survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate, the U.S. hotel sector is seeing renewed interest from foreign investors. Overall the report concluded that although multi-family was ranked as the most attractive property type for investors dollars in 2002, its attractiveness rating declined by 15%. Similarly U.S. office buildings, which ranked as the number one property type for investors money between 1995 and 2000 and the second in 2001, also fell to third position, behind industrial properties. The one sector that increased in popularity was the local hotel market. The hotel/ leisure category, which has consistently ranked as one of the least attractive property types for investment according to the study, earned a 26% higher attractiveness rating in 2002, a greater improvement than any other property type. And 66% of the respondents to the study indicated that their firms appetite for U.S. commercial real estate investment is somewhat or much stronger relative to opportunities in other countries. Respondents intend to increase their volume of U.S. real estate acquisitions in 2003 to an average of $308 million per investor, an increase of 27%.
