The Market

[oldgit]

From a very localized viewpoint.
Latest club arrivals , folk already owning boats ie. small Broom, seeking social boating and hoping to widen their horizons , only one new boating skipper with small newish Quicksilver looking for the same.
Of boats recently allocated a mooring all would appear to be small sports boats.
The state of play.
Skipper who attempted to sell a 42/5 and gave up.
Skipper looking to down size from a 35 ft flybridge to a similar size sedan, no suitable boat around.
Skipper selling a Sunseeker 40+ ft failed to attract a buyer
One skipper looking to trade up, newer and bigger from a Turbo 36, impressive price drop but still no interest .
Broom 36, owner gave up trying to sell, despite a price "adjustment" he is keeping boat for now.
Haines 400 recently arrived on the moorings , owner still has his Greenline to sell, now moved to a brokerage on the Thames .
Sealine SC35 carer looking to buy something slightly bigger , anything really as long as it has flybridge and shafts
Almost certainly a few other boats quietly on the market, skippers at the end of their boaty lives.
A definate lack of ab initio entrants and a log jam of folks with enough surplus cash to trade up a bit but simply no buyers.

None of the above were "Covid" buys.

 

[Portofino]

From a very localized viewpoint.
Latest club arrivals , folk already owning boats ie. small Broom, seeking social boating and hoping to widen their horizons , only one new boating skipper with small newish Quicksilver looking for the same.
Of boats recently allocated a mooring all would appear to be small sports boats.
The state of play.
Skipper who attempted to sell a 42/5 and gave up.
Skipper looking to down size from a 35 ft flybridge to a similar size sedan, no suitable boat around.
Skipper selling a Sunseeker 40+ ft failed to attract a buyer
One skipper looking to trade up, newer and bigger from a Turbo 36, impressive price drop but still no interest .
Broom 36, owner gave up trying to sell, despite a price "adjustment" he is keeping boat for now.
Haines 400 recently arrived on the moorings , owner still has his Greenline to sell, now moved to a brokerage on the Thames .
Sealine SC35 carer looking to buy something slightly bigger , anything really as long as it has flybridge and shafts
Almost certainly a few other boats quietly on the market, skippers at the end of their boaty lives.
A definate lack of ab initio entrants and a log jam of folks with enough surplus cash to trade up a bit but simply no buyers.

None of the above were "Covid" buys.

Not that “ localised “ it’s symptomatic of the wider decline .

Yes it’s the demographics of new buyers point I was making . It’s drying up .
Simply not enough new entrants coming in to boating , the grass roots to support previous levels of sales .
For the reasons I outlined ( and probably a few more ?) in post #11 .

A lot on here currently engrossed in the hobby won’t want to hear this , and push back on it .
Well if that’s you - enjoy your boat for another decade !

 

[Moonbeam]

Well…I’m looking about for my next project and prices are a lot lower than 12-18 months ago

We bought 18 months ago... and I can confirm you are absolutely right

 

[ICTM]

I have just listed my boat with a broker who has recently opened an office at Beaulieu. Chatting to them they have said things were very quiet at the beginning of the year but interest is starting to develop. We will see over the next couple of months ………….

 

[Fire99]

I think we have to be realistic when we buy boats.. If you buy one with the assumption you'll be able to move it on again in two or three years without a major financial it, you may be disappointed. Covid made a lot of 'irregular buyers' dizzy and people were biting the hands of sellers to buy some recreation. In many ways the whole situation was a once (probably) in a lifetime situation where people were looking desperate for home-based recreation when international travel was looking very tricky, and people had been restricted like battery hens for some time.

Unfortunately the nation is both at the back of Covid (which is a good thing) but also in great financial uncertainty with a Government which is doing nothing to inspire confidence. Plus a lot of international upheaval. I can't speak for other nations but here in the UK, I can see that would make someone looking at 50,100 or 150k in a boat, feel very cautious.

 

[Grubble]

I think we have to be realistic when we buy boats.. If you buy one with the assumption you'll be able to move it on again in two or three years without a major financial it, you may be disappointed. Covid made a lot of 'irregular buyers' dizzy and people were biting the hands of sellers to buy some recreation. In many ways the whole situation was a once (probably) in a lifetime situation where people were looking desperate for home-based recreation when international travel was looking very tricky, and people had been restricted like battery hens for some time.

Unfortunately the nation is both at the back of Covid (which is a good thing) but also in great financial uncertainty with a Government which is doing nothing to inspire confidence. Plus a lot of international upheaval. I can't speak for other nations but here in the UK, I can see that would make someone looking at 50,100 or 150k in a boat, feel very cautious.

I must say I do like the idea that Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were all confidence inspiring political giants that made people want to go out and buy a boat, but then it all changed...

 

[Chris H]

I’ve just sold my Pershing 52, I priced it below most of the other boats on the market and gave the buyer the option to do a few minor jobs it needed or buy ready for the season, it sold to the first viewer but sup prised me was the amount of bids over the phone without even seeing the boat.
I must have bought at the right time as we’ve had 5 fantastic years and got a little more than we paid for it.

 

[Fire99]

I must say I do like the idea that Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were all confidence inspiring political giants that made people want to go out and buy a boat, but then it all changed...

Didn't need to be. We had Covid, Furlough Payments, Restricted travel, and people itching for some form of recreation.
All aforementioned no longer exist. Where as, Brexit/EU Schengen restrictions for UK nationals do, plus all previously mentioned current issues.

Much bigger than just Labour rubbish, Conservatives not, philosophy, which isn't accurate.

 

[prinex]

Chris if it was this one https://www.inautia.com/it/barca/2001-pershing-52-9533795/ I think the price was excellent. Not many of those on the market and its a beatiful boat.

 

[Chris H]

Chris if it was this one https://www.inautia.com/it/barca/2001-pershing-52-9533795/ I think the price was excellent. Not many of those on the market and its a beatiful boat.

Not that one but I have a berth in Sanremo until August if you know anybody that needs one.

 

[ari]

This is a constantly reoccurring thread and it always comes to the same conclusion. Popular desirable boats always find a home fairly easily, less popular boats that are more of a liability to own are harder to sell.

Well maintained and presented boats sell quicker than poorly maintained boats that aren’t really for sale due to the way they are presented.

Oh, and over priced boats take longer to sell than under priced boats.

Henry

Indeed! The usual doom mongers spout their usual pet opinions yet again as though they're absolute fact, then the sun comes out and people start buying (decent sensibly priced) boats again.

It's a story that's as old as time. Well, not quite, but it feels like it sometimes!

 

[Elessar]

For anyone with a boat up for sale, how are you finding the market ? We all know a properly low asking price will probably get a buyer and, yes, I know we all think our boats are worth more than maybe the market dictates, but is anything actually selling?

My boat will be advertised with Solent motor yachts very soon. I guess I’m about to find out!!

(Sealine T46 by the way!!)

 

[Elessar]

Yup I think that’s right and the market needs a correction. I bought a used boat last year, I was happy with the price paid, but could I have gotten it cheaper? Maybe, by waiting, but it was in most respects ideal and the numbers were acceptable. I’ve no plans to sell but if I did, now, I’d not expect much chance of getting my money back.

Your boat is the absolute top end of condition you can expect for its age. So it was never going to be cheap.

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

The market will always has its up and downs, but we are coming down from Mount Everest and the after-affect Covid-19 distortion has left.
The thing is, there is still not a lot of boats in the market. So prices are cooling down, but I think we will never get to pre-Covid-19 numbers.

Although the large yacht upwards of 24 meter market is still interestingly good. For example March was a record in brokerage sales according to Boat International data.
I also think that upwards of 24 meters the demand curve is still a bit over the capacity of build, especially for the strong desired names in the market.
New Sanlorenzo SD132 sold in six units before delivery of first, Pershing X70 sold 5 hull#1 just launched, and they are already at ten units of the X80 which arrived in 2024, new Ferretti 940 also sold in five units before the first was delivered etc etc.

I think the after Brexit UK market is a bit something alone, protected to itself for most cases.
So if you are a Brit and want a boat in the UK you are tied to it, or pay another round of taxes.
So for you in Britain you have a premium for that....

 

[Mr Googler]

I have just listed my boat with a broker who has recently opened an office at Beaulieu. Chatting to them they have said things were very quiet at the beginning of the year but interest is starting to develop. We will see over the next couple of months ………….

Very nicely presented that. Needs a few engine photos though

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Your boat is the absolute top end of condition you can expect for its age. So it was never going to be cheap.

That’s going to be a great buy for the next owner.

 

[oldgit]

For What its Worth.
Olde sea dogs would always regale those prepared to listen, about how they would invariably make money every time they sold a boat, making it easy to upgrade to a bigger better boat each time.
The successful engineer or blue collar man with his own small company, worked up from a small displacement boat such as a 25 ft Freeman or Seamaster and invariably ended up with a Fairline 36 or similar Princess of some flavour .
A professional chap bought a Broom Crown and the "prefer cash" car dealer a Moonraker 36.
There was a myriad number of UK builders out there catering for just about every possible pocket, nobody ever even suspected that those perfidious foreigners across the channel were capable of building a leisure boat.
OSD will tell tales of fuel being 10p a gallon, turning up at the club and after a few beers, setting of for Neuport simply cos that seemed a good idea at the time.
The boat could and would be used for the two week family holiday on the Thames or a coastal trip,.
Marinas, were still far in the future, you moored in a port like it or not. all of these boats are still afloat , their skippers, if active ,now all in their late seventies and eighties, mostly going nowhere, couple of small leisure batteries gave all the power you need, now try organising a cruise without shorepower at the other end.
Those boats once much in demand as the next upgrade are now 50 years old and requiring the sort of money, time and effort the current lot have absolutely no interest whatever in devoting their precious spare time/ cash too. ?
Any son who caught the boating bug from Dad might have bought a boat very much like his Dads, but precious little time and even less money to use it now.
Then along came EasyJet and Ry****r.

All boatyards locally have acres of hard standing devoted to old boats large and small quietly rotting away ( a handy source of income) that will never ever see the sea again.
On recent trip up the Thames the river bank was lined with sunken and abandoned vessels, the local EA yard unable to take any more.
The UK boat market now seems to have divided , either your name is ELON and can afford a entry level Princess @ 650 K keep it in a £5-7K marina or are buying something fishy or whizzy from France and moor elsewhere.
Every affordable MoBo in view now appears to have Jeanneau or Beneteau on the hull, the builder of our most recent UK boat went bust a few years ago.
For some of us intending to go across Le Manche in a week or two the mountain of paperwork now required is more of a deterrent than engine failure or inclement weather.

 

[Fire99]

For What its Worth.
Olde sea dogs would always regale those prepared to listen, about how they would invariably make money every time they sold a boat, making it easy to upgrade to a bigger better boat each time.
The successful engineer or blue collar man with his own small company, worked up from a small displacement boat such as a 25 ft Freeman or Seamaster and invariably ended up with a Fairline 36 or similar Princess of some flavour .
A professional chap bought a Broom Crown and the "prefer cash" car dealer a Moonraker 36.
There was a myriad number of UK builders out there catering for just about every possible pocket, nobody ever even suspected that those perfidious foreigners across the channel were capable of building a leisure boat.
OSD will tell tales of fuel being 10p a gallon, turning up at the club and after a few beers, setting of for Neuport simply cos that seemed a good idea at the time.
The boat could and would be used for the two week family holiday on the Thames or a coastal trip,.
Marinas, were still far in the future, you moored in a port like it or not. all of these boats are still afloat , their skippers, if active ,now all in their late seventies and eighties, mostly going nowhere, couple of small leisure batteries gave all the power you need, now try organising a cruise without shorepower at the other end.
Those boats once much in demand as the next upgrade are now 50 years old and requiring the sort of money, time and effort the current lot have absolutely no interest whatever in devoting their precious spare time/ cash too. ?
Any son who caught the boating bug from Dad might have bought a boat very much like his Dads, but precious little time and even less money to use it now.
Then along came EasyJet and Ry****r.

All boatyards locally have acres of hard standing devoted to old boats large and small quietly rotting away ( a handy source of income) that will never ever see the sea again.
On recent trip up the Thames the river bank was lined with sunken and abandoned vessels, the local EA yard unable to take any more.
The UK boat market now seems to have divided , either your name is ELON and can afford a entry level Princess @ 650 K keep it in a £5-7K marina or are buying something fishy or whizzy from France and moor elsewhere.
Every affordable MoBo in view now appears to have Jeanneau or Beneteau on the hull, the builder of our most recent UK boat went bust a few years ago.
For some of us intending to go across Le Manche in a week or two the mountain of paperwork now required is more of a deterrent than engine failure or inclement weather.

I'm pretty much with you. I think there is now the 'Super Yacht' world, which continues to grow, which sits outside of us mere mortals. For those of us in the 'middle ground' I think if you're a UK coastal boater (I don't spend much time on inland waterways these days so that seems a slighty different world), more people will really want to do it and suffer the associated headaches / clever approaches, to get around issues. With the costs and hassle, I think it's making boating more polarising. Either nothing else will do, or everything else will do.

Or, as a guy reminded me recently, you just crew on other boats and have a nice day out with virtually none of the cost / hassle.

 

[Elessar]

The UK boat market now seems to have divided , either your name is ELON and can afford a entry level Princess @ 650 K keep it in a £5-7K marina or are buying something fishy or whizzy from France and moor elsewhere.

My you are out of touch.

£15-17k more like if you are on the Hamble.

 

[Fire99]

My you are out of touch.

£15-17k more like if you are on the Hamble.

It's well over £5k for a 50ft in Northern Ireland.