How much have used boat prices fallen

C

cataldo

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Hi,

wonder how much has the price of say a year 2000 princess 52 fb,
fairline squadron 52,have fallen in price since 2005 pre recession,they seem to be asking
between 250,000 and 400,000 stg for squadron 52s at the moment.

Thanks in advance
 
I spend a small about of time trawling through various boat selling websites, and the problem with answering your question is, that many boat sellers don't seem to have adjusted their boat's asking price by very much, from when times were better.

If they ever sell their boats, you rarely ever get to know how much they actually sold for below (assuming they have taken a knock) the asking price.
 
Depends if you adjust for currency or not. Foreign buyers have helped to keep up the sterling value of boats, but that sterling value has depreciated against other currencies.
 
how muc

yes

exactly
,amazing difference between second hand
boat sales and used car sales,I see boats still for
sale after 3 years,a car would have more than halved
in price in that time
 
Yes, but the comparison to cars is not really valid for a number of reasons. The first is the sheer volume difference between boats and cars. A popular boat maybe has 250 units sold over its production run, where as a popular car can be sold that many times in a week.

Secondly, because boats are genrally a load of parts from manufacturers but together by the builder they are much more bespoke. It is unlikely that of the 8-10 Squaddy 52s for sale at any one time you will find 2 that are identical.

Thirdly it is use that affects vehicle values. compared to a boat, they have been pretty much run into the ground by the time they are three years old. Think about what changes on a big boat - its mainly styling (and even that hasnt changed that much in 15 years - mid cabins being the biggest improvement), electronics and engines. Sailing boats hold their money more as the mechanical side of things are less important, where as motorboats the engines can make a big difference.

Finally, look at the new prices of boats compared to boats 10 years ago. Same size form the same builder with the same kit? I would imagine up by a good 70% if not doubled in most cases. Now look at cars, from the same manufacturer for the same model with the same kit. Mostly you will find the cars have more kit, are bigger and have not gone up anywhere near as much, probably closer to 20-30% spec for spec and size for size.

In this respect, boats are closer to houses than cars - they dont appreciate like propertyy but due to the relative uniqueness of each boat it is impossible to produce a blue book price and even one that is 15 years old still does what it did on the day it was launched. New ones are more expensive, but its why you see used values plateau they way they do.

Dont forget, it takes two to sell. Maybe they sellers think for £300k I will sell, but for £200k, Id rasther keep it, even if the market says £200k is all its worth.
 
That makes sense our last boat was a twelve years

old princess 440 and was still in perfect working order
about 47 feet and worth about 150,000,cared for I can still see
it running in 25 years time
.I guess a new replacement
would cost 500,000
 
cataldo said:
Hi,

wonder how much has the price of say a year 2000 princess 52 fb,
fairline squadron 52,have fallen in price since 2005 pre recession,they seem to be asking
between 250,000 and 400,000 stg for squadron 52s at the moment.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Interesting example.
We actually seriously considered a Squadron 52 whe we were looking for our Sealine in 2004/2005
In fact, the second hand prices were exactly in line with your current findings.
I dont think its a particular popular boat either.
We also looked at a slightly younger Phantom 50 at the time - for about the same price - they were both around the £300,000 ish and both good boats.
 
cataldo said:
Hi,

wonder how much has the price of say a year 2000 princess 52 fb,
fairline squadron 52,have fallen in price since 2005 pre recession,they seem to be asking
between 250,000 and 400,000 stg for squadron 52s at the moment.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

The short answer is that you cant tell from asking prices only from selling prices which, of course, you dont know. Find a boat you like and make a low offer. If it isnt accepted, move on to the next one and so on. Talk to the brokers about how keen/desperate the owner is to sell to guage how likely a low offer is to be accepted.
It seems that some boats have been selling for 30% or more below asking price but that is by no means across the board. Some owners are simply hanging on to their boats and hoping that the market recovers but keeping their boats on the market in case an acceptable offer comes along.
Certainly the secondhand 40-60ft flybridge market is in the doldrums still so there is a reasonable chance of a bargain. The Princess 52 is a fine boat but the Sq52 is a bit of an oddball because Fairline idiotically designed it with only 2 sleeping cabins, although they managed to squeeze in a 3rd cubby hole cabin on later boats when they realised their error. The flybridge is small for it's length too. This means that you are probably more likely to find a bargain on the Sq52
 
I was looking in late 2008 and I still have the list of boats we considered.

A 2004 Phantom 50 in Jersey was on at £447k, which was quite steep at the time. Here we are 14mths later, and the same boat is still for sale at... £423k.

Another one, 2005 model, was on at £459k and is still for sale, now asking £399k.
 
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