Current Yacht Prices in the US

As a whole, no. There are some deals out there that pop up here and there from what I have seen.

Let's put it this way: from my observations, boats that were selling earlier in the year forThis price were selling later this summer for This price and as of the current economic woes putting a real crimp in boat sales, the boats that do sell will most likely go for this price.

"Distress sales"? Depends on whether or not you consider being 'nibbled to death by ducks' distressful.
However...the boat business seems to suffer before the general economy does and tends to emerge with vigor before the rest of the economy will--kind of a DJIA/Yacht Index for the last thirty years if you will.

What would be interesting to see is what happens going forward with the Euro dropping against the Dollar. The new boats today from Europe, versus bought by boaters or for inventory over the last couple, will be 20% less just on exchange rates. If the Euro and Dollar get to parity (some are forecasting that) then that would be a 30%+ discount from the high.

This may also put some pressure on US manufacturers, to at least keep their prices in check.

Going the other way, I doubt we will be seeing any more used boats being exported from the US to Europe.

Lastly, input costs should be coming down, with oil and other basic materials like copper and steel down. However, I personally don't see this lasting through to 2010.

So when it is all said and done, technical analysis aside, it will be a matter of supply and demand, irrational or otherwise!

From what I've seen, the European buying pretty much fell off about 6 months ago. Let me re-phrase that Italian, Greek and the Med region of European buying. I have seen Swedish and the Nordic area's buying pick up in the last 6 months. However not nearly to the amount the Med region's has buying has fallen off. I have also seen a little more Canadian and South American buying activity. But US used sales as a whole have fallen quite a bit in the last 6 months but I do see things popping in the last few weeks which it usually does right before the FLIBS. There are deals out there, but there are still plenty of owners sitting on their price because they aren't needy also.

We looked at a used 52' Ocean Alexander last spring that was priced at $489K. They later (about mid-July) dropped the price to $445K. I got an email from the broker around the end of Sept that the price had been dropped to $344K. That's 30% off the original asking price. I suspect if I was interested in that boat it could be bought for $300K even.

In talks with brokers in the Seattle area they all are of the same opinion...boats priced over $1MM are still selling but boats in the $100K to $800K range have stopped selling. Nobody is looking at them and none are selling. As one broker put it..."It's like someone turned off the spigot."

Current used boat prices


This has been quite a strange market late 2007. What I've noticed over the past five years is that there wasn't nearly as much finance as there was back in the late 80's, early 90's. Therefore; we aren't seeing as many repos in the 50'+ area. As fuel prices climbed, there were quite a few owners who weren't using their boats as much and decided to sell. The bargains at the time were driven by either a desire to move to another boat or a desire to get out totally.
By the Spring and into summer as the sub prime debacle took hold and the market started plunging, there were some distress sales. However, I still saw most owners holding the line on prices. Again, it was fuel,lack of use and now financial pressures. I've always felt that the best was to get a bargain on a brokerage boat is when an owner can afford to sell. Usually their boats are still being maintained as compared to the owner that is having financial problems.
I feel that we are in the best buyers market that I've seen in my 25 years of brokerage.
We're even starting to seem some softening in the larger yachts up to 130' or so. Yet it seems that the mega 70 meter and up is still holding its own.
Hard to tell where everything is going to shake out, but I don't quite feel the love any more.

Yet it seems that the mega 70 meter and up is still holding its own.


Not surprising with the money those people have.

Seems to me the low sales had been in the under 50' range a few months ago. Lately it seems like boats up to 100 feet or so are drastically cutting prices. How far up the ladder has the unaffected point gone?

Hi,

Don't you believe it.

The current turmoil affects nearly everyone involved in these things.

There are number of big projects where the current buyers are very keen to unload. A`couple have just walked away from their payments to date.

In my opinion, the entire market is softening, regardless of price and size. If an owner is testing the market, this is not the time to do it unless it's something extremely desirable and hard to find. I may be wrong, but this is what I seem to be seeing.

Doesn't matter if it's a yacht or an office building. If it's being done with OPM it's being looked at very carefully. Even if self -financed the landscape has changed significantly and plans have to change accordingly. Just saw one construction project walked away from, forfeiting a very healthy chunk of change. The principle looked at the potential return on the project and decided to take his money elsewhere that made a lot more sense to his business's long term growth. Of course, just as with yachts, someone else may come along and find the unfinished project the right fit, and buy in at the right price. I guess I'm asking the same question that many others are: where's the bottom?
It's all in the timing.

Nice analysis.....Now what is your opinion...?....Do you think prices will go "this price" in the closer future..?

This week the DJ had it's best week in 75 years (per MSNBC). It appears that every time Obama speaks or appoints a new cabnet member it goes up. I hope he starts announcing one every day and stretches it out. Maybe we're nearing the bottom.

Good question. Things will likely get a bit worse econmically near-term for sellers, with a resultant realization by buyers--especially from outside the U.S.--who "kept their powder dry", that there are great deals to be had domestically right now.
And, when that last really clean Bertram 54 conveys at a fire sale price followed by a slow but inexorable stiffening of the market, we will have witnessed a bottom to the boat business in our rearview mirrors.
Better buy it soon, David!

Jejejejejeje I will......