H260 Price Trends

[Tedd]

I thought some people might be interested in this chart, which I created from data I've been collecting since the start of 2020. It's a comparison of asking prices for Hunter 260s in 2020 compared to asking prices for Hunter 260s in 2021. It is based on the age of the boat corrrected to today's date (28 Aug 2021).

What I take from this is that the price bump from Covid-19 (and whatever other factors there might be) hasn't gone away entirely. Hunter 260 asking prices are up 3-4k over 2020 (depending on the age of the boat). Unfortunately, I don't have any data on selling prices. I do have data that suggests that selling prices for sailboats such as the H260 average about 5 percent below the asking price.

Note: The asking price for 2020 boats has been adjusted to reflect what the asking price of that boat would have been if it were listed today, adjusting only for the fact that it's now 1 year older. The adjustment factor is based on a large dataset of asking prices for a wide variety of sailboat models, over several years.

[Edited to add: To the best of my knowledge, none of the 2021 boats are the same boat as was listed in 2020. I track registration number (where I can), boat name, and, when all else fails, location to try to uniquely identify each boat.]

 

[sail sfbay]

You might consider in your price trend a geographical price adjustment from point of manufacture to the west coast, NW, etc. due to transportation cost. That might partially explain the listing price difference between Florida and NW.

There is a 17 year old 260 listed for sale in Washington $7,000 above your 2021 curve.

 

[Tedd]

Thanks for the suggestion, @sail sfbay . Here's how it breaks down.

Region	Average Asking Price​	Average Age​
North West	25,980​	18.1​
West	21,275​	20.4​
Midwest	18,909​	20.3​
South	18,231​	21.0​
North East	17,076​	20.4​

I should note that the data only includes two boats from the NW states, so the very high asking price for that region is probably somewhat affected by small number bias. But, in general, it does seem that Hunter 260 asking prices are significantly higher west of the Mississippi. Bad news for me, as I'm shopping for a 260 and that's where I am!

I'm sorry, I couldn't figure out how to format the table better.

 

[Tedd]

I'm on a roll. I decided to look at the price difference between H260s with wheel steering and H260s with a tiller. There is no price difference! Once age is corrected for (corrected to 2001 production year), the average asking price for wheel boats is USD 20,810 and for tiller boats is USD 20,816.

 

[rgranger]

Ya got data on H26s?

 

[Tedd]

Ya got data on H26s?

Sorry, no. I decided a while ago that I wanted a 260 and I've gathered very little data on 26s. I do have a couple in my database, but not enough to derive any meaningful information from.

 

[Ottdreamer]

Just purchased, 22,000 USD. From PA, USA to ON, Canada. Now sitting in my driveway (about to be cross-posted).
Not the cheapest but a long list of equipment.

 

[DeliriousSailor]

Are these boats that come with a trailer or did you do the boat without a trailer?

 

[hpalmer1]

Have you also used POPyachts soldboatprice.com for your data?

 

[Tedd]

Are these boats that come with a trailer or did you do the boat without a trailer?

To the best of my knowledge, all the H260s included in the above analysis included trailers. I do have some without trailers in my database but they were filtered out for this analysis.

Incidentally, while the data is limited it appears that there's almost no difference in asking price between 260s with trailers and 260s without trailers, despite the (new) price of a Magic Tilt BG0089 being CAD 8,536 (~USD 6,744). It appears that the used sailboat market has similar built-in irrationalities to some other markets; things that ought to factor significantly into the asking price (trailer, wheel steering) do not.

 

[DeliriousSailor]

To the best of my knowledge, all the H260s included in the above analysis included trailers. I do have some without trailers in my database but they were filtered out for this analysis.

Incidentally, while the data is limited it appears that there's almost no difference in asking price between 260s with trailers and 260s without trailers, despite the (new) price of a Magic Tilt BG0089 being CAD 8,536 (~USD 6,744). It appears that the used sailboat market has similar built-in irrationalities to some other markets; things that ought to factor significantly into the asking price (trailer, wheel steering) do not.

Well that's shocking!! I priced out a new Magic Tilt trailer and you are correct about the price. I got lucky and found a 2017 Magic Tilt for $2,000. I'm wondering if I should sell the trailer separately.. But, if I can market the boat as a trailer sailor, no need for marina fees or a slip that would be great. Slips are hard to come by these days.

 

[Tedd]

Have you also used POPyachts soldboatprice.com for your data?

No. I didn't know about soldboatprice.com until you mentioned it. I did use actual sold prices for a variety of boats to analyze typical differences between asking and selling price. (About 5 percent, I think it was, but somewhat dependent on price range, with the difference being less for more expensive boats.) I got the data from a broker. But, even with soldboatprice.com, when you narrow it down to a single model there's not a lot of data to go on, so I haven't bothered to do it for individual boat models. I've focused on asking price because (a) it's readily available for virtually every boat on the market, from a variety of sources and (b) the expected gap between asking and selling prices seems to be pretty predictable.

One of the things that's frustrating about this kind of data collection is that most web site designers either don't bother to, or don't want to, make their data available for SQL query or Excel BI query. I'm pretty sure even the ones that do that do it unintentionally. So, unless you're willing to spend a lot more time cutting and pasting than I am, you have to work from data that is more limited than ideal.

 

[Tedd]

I'm wondering if I should sell the trailer separately..

I hate to see people do that. I guess in some places (Florida, for example) people buy 26s and 260s for the swing keel feature and don't give a fig about trailerability. But it's frustrating for a trailer sailor like me to see a boat effectively taken out of circulation (from my point of view) only because the owner couldn't be bothered to store the trailer for a couple of years. There are so many great boats out there for the non trailer sailor and so few options (in the H260 size and price range) for the trailer sailor.

 

[DeliriousSailor]

I hate to see people do that. I guess in some places (Florida, for example) people buy 26s and 260s for the swing keel feature and don't give a fig about trailerability. But it's frustrating for a trailer sailor like me to see a boat effectively taken out of circulation (from my point of view) only because the owner couldn't be bothered to store the trailer for a couple of years. There are so many great boats out there for the non trailer sailor and so few options (in the H260 size and price range) for the trailer sailor.

I will definitely list the trailer with the boat. I don't see being able to get as much for the boat without it. The new owner can sell the trailer if they dont want it. With slips being difficult to find, it's great to advertise this boat doesnt need a slip immediately.

 

[rgranger]

Another odd thing about the trailer market is that a decent used trailer is about $2,000 but it is not hard to find a very neglected boat sitting on a decent trailer for a few hundred dollars if you are willing to shop around. I got this trailer for $400 with a 20' fishing boat (blown mercruiser) sitting on it. I stripped off all of the decent hardware, sold the hull for $100, added bunks and put a Rhodes 22 on it. Out of pocket $300 but with a few nice chocks, cleats, a compas and a motor mount in the mix.