Used Boat Prices Going Up?

LuzSD · Jun 25, 2012

I have noticed the opposite. Seems like there are lots of really great older boats out there that are just waiting for an offer.... I'm just commenting, not because I have been really researching the matter, but I have been thinking this for maybe the past year... If only we could consider parting with out boat, I think we could find a steal!

justsomeguy · Jun 25, 2012

Ducati said:
For the past few years I've been looking at the ask prices for used Beneteau, Catalina, Jenneau and Hunter sailboats listed in Yachtworld. Correct me if I'm wrong but I've noticed that some of them are actually going up by 10-15%.

Comments?

I've been looking at boat prices a lot over the last few years, and I agree with your perception.
People are responding to rumors/suggestions that the trouble we're experiencing is beginning to abate.

Bob J. · Jun 25, 2012

Could also be the brokers/boat owners are getting tired of low-ball offers. Raise the asking price 10-15%, gets them closer to what they'll let the boat go for.

Rick D · Jun 25, 2012

Regional

One curiosity in SoCal is that there are dealers complaining that they can't get listings on sailboats. My gut feel is a lot of people just were not going to put them on the market that was down as much as it is here unless forced to. Many sold boats here are going out of the area. There are a lot of Ausies and Kiwis buying here for what they say is a third or more less that home. Pays for the cruise and then some.

I think the sit-on-it syndrome here probably has a depressing effect on the new boat move-up market.

windward54 · Jun 25, 2012

The brokers that I've talked to here in SoCal tell me that they have never been busier, and the prices have become firmer. The guess is that sellers as a group seem to be sitting on their price mark and haven't been bargaining as much as they were just a few years ago.

Glad I jumped when I did!

JVB · Jun 25, 2012

Printing excess money

Inflation follows when the Federal Reserve prints more money than justified by economic growth. Bernake's rounds of "quantitative easing" mean excess money has been printed. (It was used to monetize some of the national debt, which is bad in its own right.) And the Obama admin. has been doing it big time. Inflation lags the excess money printing by about two years according to the book "Aftershock". So I expect inflation (already evident) to take off in 2013. House prices may be the last thing to inflate due to the overhang of foreclosed properties. Boat prices may be slow to respond too since they are luxury items and big purchases. I am not an economist but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last week.

dlandersson · Jun 25, 2012

Bear in mind that the baby boom "bulge" (47 - 67) is the biggest demographic in the USA. These people have disposable income and the percentage interested in boating will create a market demand.

finding41 · Jun 25, 2012

I saved about 6-8k by getting my Mac26D from Ohio. Around here (Ontario Canada) there 10-16k! The guys at the yacht club gasp when I let them know what I paid. $3400. in Nov. 2011. I still see them on Cragslist occasionally for around 5k in the USA.
There are some great deals out there for big sailboats. Just too big for me. (Right now.)

xcyz · Jun 25, 2012

I recently purchased my h376 last month in San Deigo. I found the market to be extremely soft. Don't pay any attention to the listing price and ask your broker for the list of sold boats for the model and size you're interested in. He gets this information from "soldboats.com" and is available to brokers as a subscription. Although no two boats are the same, one can get a general idea of what they're selling for. The soldboat listing is a good tool to reference when shopping...

dlandersson · Jun 25, 2012

Like this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1984...170867400160?pt=Sailboats&hash=item27c87d9de0

finding41 said:
I saved about 6-8k by getting my Mac26D from Ohio. Around here (Ontario Canada) there 10-16k! The guys at the yacht club gasp when I let them know what I paid. $3400. in Nov. 2011. I still see them on Cragslist occasionally for around 5k in the USA.
There are some great deals out there for big sailboats. Just too big for me. (Right now.)

xcyz · Jun 25, 2012

Soldboat.com Sample

Length Boats Year Codes Listed US$ Sold US$ Location
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2003 S U SD FG 118,500 (08/11) 114,000 (10/11) CA, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII Air &... 2003 S U SD FG 119,900 (07/11) 111,500 (07/11) MD, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2003 S U SD FG 117,500 (11/11) 110,000 (02/12) TX, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2003 S U SD FG 114,900 (10/10) 110,000 (05/11) NY, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2002 S U SD FG 114,000 (12/11) 106,000 (03/12) CA, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2001 S U SD FG 115,000 (06/11) 102,000 (07/11) TX, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2001 S U SD FG 109,900 (09/11) 101,000 (03/12) FL, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2003 S U SD FG 109,000 (11/11) 99,000 (03/12) NY, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2001 S U SD FG 102,500 (02/12) 99,000 (04/12) TX, USA
36' Catalina MKII 36 2003 S U SD FG 109,900 (06/10) 95,000 (04/11) NJ, USA
36' Catalina Mark II 2001 S U SD FG 94,500 (10/09) 90,000 (09/11) FL, USA
36' Catalina MK II 2001 S U SD FG 99,500 (10/10) 89,000 (07/11) KY, USA
36' Catalina 36 Mk II 2000 S U SD FG 94,500 (05/11) 88,000 (06/11) MD, USA
36' Catalina 36 MK II *** ... 2000 S U SD FG 101,000 (10/10) 88,000 (04/11) MD, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 2002 S U SD FG 105,000 (05/10) 88,000 (03/12) CA, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 1999 S U SD FG 110,000 (08/10) 88,000 (04/11) MI, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 1999 S U SD FG 105,000 (12/10) 86,000 (06/11) CT, USA
36' Catalina Immaculate Ma... 2000 S U SD FG 89,500 (10/11) 85,000 (01/12) CA, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 1999 S U SD FG 89,500 (09/10) 79,500 (07/11) CA, USA
36' Catalina MK II 1998 S U SD FG 89,000 (02/11) 79,500 (06/11) CA, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 1998 S U SD FG 79,500 (12/11) 75,000 (01/12) CA, USA
36' Catalina 36 MKII 1998 S U SD FG 89,500 (06/11) 75,000 (09/11) CT, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 1999 S U SD FG 99,000 (04/11) 67,000 (08/11) AK, USA
36' Catalina 36 MkII 1999 S U SD FG 89,900 (03/11) 67,000 (06/11) AK, USA
36' Catalina 36 MKII Tradi... 1998 S U SD FG 69,000 (11/09) 65,750 (08/11) CA, USA
P=Power, S=Sail, C=Commercial
N=New, U=Used
S=Single, T=Twin, D=Diesel, G=Gas/Petrol
W=Wood, ST=Steel, AL=Aluminum, FG=Fiberglass, CP=Composite, FC=Ferro-Cement
O=Other/None, =Full Specs, =Photos, =Video Brochure

Sail123 · Jun 26, 2012

I hired a surveyor three months ago in the LA area. He is certified by the state of CA. He says in all his years of business, he has never seen such a bad market for sellers. He says there is a big power boat in every bank parking lot for sale, and some banks are ready to give them away for storage fees.

He said the sailboat market is great right now for buyers as well.

His exact words were people we're walking away unable to pay slip fees, repair fees and not looking back.

The problem is a lack of trailers to sell all the boats. Trailers are going at a premium now.

petersea · Jun 26, 2012

there are several sector in the used boating market depending on area, boat size and if power or sail and last but not least is the price range. It is a broad statement to say used boat prices are up but in fact some markets they are, while other they are not. clearly sailboats are in a better market then big power boats. remember this.. used boats will always be a supply and demand thing and depend on the economy. The demand is low in most places and supply is greater now but as new boat sales have dried up (and what did sell goes into the used market) prices will get firmer and higher based on initial sales price. Fact is all new boats sales have dropped in the last five years. hopefully as the economy rebounds so will boat sales. The big winner in the used boat market the last five years has been the repo man !

dlandersson · Jun 26, 2012

Hmmm....there's a nice Catalina 30 for sale right now for $11,000...always been a believer in buying in a bear market.

Sail123 said:
I hired a surveyor three months ago in the LA area. He is certified by the state of CA. He says in all his years of business, he has never seen such a bad market for sellers. He says there is a big power boat in every bank parking lot for sale, and some banks are ready to give them away for storage fees.

He said the sailboat market is great right now for buyers as well.

His exact words were people we're walking away unable to pay slip fees, repair fees and not looking back.

The problem is a lack of trailers to sell all the boats. Trailers are going at a premium now.

RECESS · Jun 26, 2012

I have Craigslist Notification on my Android. It sends all ads with the keywords in a search to my phone. I have most of the major markets in Florida, minus Miami on my search. I am always on the lookout for sailboat related items. I scan all the ads everyday and have for over three years. I have seen the price still dropping. It also depends on the time of the year. I have yet to see any upswing in the market in Florida.

You can ask all you want, but it is really about what people are paying. I notice the boats that people are asking above the market keep reposting the same ad.

rardiH36 · Jun 26, 2012

RECESS said:
I have Craigslist Notification on my Android. It sends all ads with the keywords in a search to my phone. I have most of the major markets in Florida, minus Miami on my search. I am always on the lookout for sailboat related items. I scan all the ads everyday and have for over three years. I have seen the price still dropping. It also depends on the time of the year. I have yet to see any upswing in the market in Florida.

You can ask all you want, but it is really about what people are paying. I notice the boats that people are asking above the market keep reposting the same ad.

Recess:

Perceptive. As an example: For quite a while on Craigslist for SF Bay Area was a listing for an appx 1980 Cherubini Hunter 37 located in the fresh water Sacramento delta area. By description and pictures, this was a decently maintained boat and outfitted with a lot of extras. (I think even a dink with outboard was part of the offering.) Several weeks ago the owner dropped the price even again. From the low/mid $20k range to ~$18k. If though I am not intending to trade up, I was tempted to drive over for a look-see just in case. A few days later the listing disappeared. Don't really know, but likely a buyer finally emerged. Seller maybe not feeling too good, but also relieved to have lightened the worry load on his life. Market price rules.

LuzSD · Jun 27, 2012

we have considered selling our 27 Catalina and replacing it with a fishing boat,(a Parker is what I looked at) .....(Don't get too excited, we have our own 30 Cat. ...the 27 is a family boat). I went to see the boat at the guys workplace, and it was a really nice boat. He was asking about $40,000 and when I asked him what his bottom line was he looked me directly in the eye and said that it really did not matter, he owned it outright and just wanted it sold. It didn't seem to satisfy my family member that made the decision so we ended up passing on this boat, but I know we could have offered and gotten it for $25,000. It was a really well appointed Parker 1996, and around 28ft. For sure it was a very beaten down seller and a buyers market. I felt for the guy!

Benny17441 · Jun 27, 2012

I would say the prices on sailboats are holding steady while those on powerboats continue to slide.