The report and its market
CBRE’s Luxury Hotel Market report covers Australia and New Zealand. Hotel News Resource carried the analysis on 17 September 2026 as a Market Report Australia item.
Luxury hotels in the region recorded stronger demand and room-rate growth than the wider hotel market, and CBRE reports that the gap widened.
Demand grew faster than the wider market
Demand across major Australian and New Zealand markets grew at a compound annual rate of 2.9 percent from 2019, against 1.3 percent for the overall hotel sector. CBRE attributes the result to growth in the global luxury market, rising room rates and constrained supply.
Luxury occupancy held between 78 percent and 79 percent through the period, with new properties opening in the region.
The rate premium widened
Luxury average daily rates rose in every market reviewed since 2019, and the gap over all hotel categories widened with them. In Australia, the report prints the average luxury ADR premium rising 53 percent, from $62 in 2019 to $94 in 2026. The two figures imply 51.6 percent, and the item names no currency for either.
Queenstown recorded the largest premium among the markets reviewed, from about NZ$78 to NZ$140. CBRE ties that result to limited supply and the town’s position as a leisure destination. Sydney performed strongly among major gateway markets, and newer properties established higher rate levels.
Supply: 3,517 rooms opened, 1,979 under construction
Since 2020, 20 luxury hotels comprising 3,517 rooms have opened across Australia and New Zealand. Luxury properties accounted for about one-third of all hotel rooms delivered in Australia over the period.
Eleven luxury hotels comprising about 1,979 rooms were under construction across the two countries, and most are expected to open during 2026 and 2027. CBRE expects the confirmed pipeline beyond that cycle to become materially smaller, as project feasibility limits new construction.
What the rate premium did to asset prices
The median transaction price per room rose 81 percent, from about $396,000 between 2011 and 2014 to $718,000 in the 2023 to 2026 year-to-date period. The two figures imply 81.3 percent, and the item names no currency for either.
Since 2021, about A$3.2 billion in luxury hotel assets has changed hands across Australia and New Zealand. CBRE advised on about A$1.75 billion of those transactions, which it states is 55 percent of the total transaction value.
Higher valuations supported hotel conversions, property repositioning, branded residences and independent operating arrangements. Investment from China and Hong Kong was particularly active between 2012 and 2018. Singaporean and Malaysian investors held a steadier presence, and the buyer base became more diverse in recent years.
The read for daytime inventory
The report carries no hourly or daytime figure and no revenue by time of day. Two published numbers frame the daytime market at these assets: occupancy in a 78 to 79 percent band through the period, and an Australian average daily rate premium of $62 to $94 over the wider market.
Read the occupancy band as headroom on the asset and the ADR premium as the reference the daytime rate sits under. Neither reading is stated in the report.
What the report does not carry
No absolute average daily rate for any market. No margin, profit or net operating income figures. No per-market occupancy beyond the 78 to 79 percent band. No city-level split of the 20 hotels opened since 2020 or of the 11 under construction.