Pilothouse Motoryacht Specialist - 2010 September Yacht Market update

July/August 2010 update: GOOD NEWS for a change- I've at least seen an actual small uptick in prices AND boats are finally starting to sell well on the Great Lakes and NE which had been quite slow for many years. The 2007 580 Meridian I sold in July 2009 -resold July 2010 at a higher price as (finally!) all those new never sold dealer leftovers the builders were blowing out, and dragging the brokerage market down- are all now sold. The market IS supply and demand. AMERICANS are buying boats again which is great news as up until 2010 it had been (05 -09) foreign buyers totally driving the yacht market.

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If your waiting for the "bottom of the market" to buy you will be waiting forever as machines DO depreciate monthly and there is no "bottom". That's normal. Boats aren't investments- they're nothing but TOY'S, toys one can share TIME with loved one's and live adventures instead of just dreaming about them.
REPO's are still coming in but at a much slower rate as earlier in the year and they're larger and newer than before. Fair warning about Reop's as it's totally "hit and miss" as many are in condition that one can obviously tell their owners quit spending money on maintenance a LONG time before they quit making payments to the bank. On the OTHER hand, every now and then a jewel comes along worth owning- THESE go quick and I've seen some nice Yachts go for way less than sisterships on the Brokerage market. To actually buy one of these "jewels", one practically has to be be sitting there when they arrive, to be the first bidder and sometimes you need to actually offer MORE than the asking price (as it IS an auction afterall) IF you want to own these boats.

HAMPTON YACHTS are selling extremely well, a true bright spot for New Yacht Sales!! Why? A very high quality product at prices lower than others- from a manufacturer who actually LISTENS to their clients and builds the boats that the market demands instead of trying to shove new designs and drivetrains down the publics throats that the public hasn't asked for. People regularly ask "How can Chinese built Yachts be better than other countries?"- to which I answer: "Remember hearing on the news how the Chinese have executed plant managers and executives for taking short cuts on quality control or corruption?" You don't hear that from other countries do you? Build a better product or die! Talk about "motivation".

The GOOD news for North American buyers is that the export market to other continents has gone soft so all the good boats are NO LONGER going overseas as in previous years when exports TOTALLY drove the Yacht market in America.

If "x" amount of boats are selling for "x" prices- then that's the market value for that boat. A majority of the ASKING prices of Yachts for Sale, on sites such as Yachtworld have absolutely ZERO correlation to what boats are actually selling for. "Apples to Watermelons!". Many of the boats you see on Yachtworld have been on the market for years and years, some as long as 20 years, even many popular models such as Bayliner 4788s have been "on the market" between 6 to 10 years, just being listed with different Yacht Brokers every couple of years without ever selling. Even most of the 2001 models have been on the market now for 4-5 years. They were overpriced and not really for sale then- and REALLY- less so today. The old saying of "the only difference between "for sale " and "sold" is only the price has always been true. So what I'm trying to say is: for you boat owners -don't go looking at websites where boats HAVEN'T sold to get an idea of what YOUR boat is worth. "For sale" and "sold" are TWO VERY different things.

To these owners that are "upside down" who can't afford to pay the difference between the bank payoff and the current market value- and to you Brokers that foolishly accept these overpriced listings that will never sell I say: Take them off the market as you look like fools as they are NEVER going to sell. The market is the market is the market.

Pilothouse Motoryacht Specialist

Arch Creek -1/2 mile Due west of Haulover Inlet, 2500 NE 135th St. By APPOINTMENT ONLY
Miami FL 33181 USA

Toll Free 800-931-0969 ext. 1019

International 1-703-286-2180 ext. 1019