Will mobo prices bottom out?

[ricky_s]

Just had a quick look on a few boats for sale sites and it looks like boat prices in the sector I'm interested in have dropped again!

There seems some great bargains are available but is it likely to get even better over the next few months?

Seems a very good time to be in the market for a second hand boat.

 

[rafiki_]

I'm not convinced that the market is ready to pick up yet, especially given the fragility of our Eu neighbours, so for me, there is further to go.

 

[Searush]

You may find you can exert a little pressure when next year's storage invoices go out & people have to decide if they can continue to pay thro the nose for storing a depreciating asset that they are not using.

But you are both rich & clever, so I expect you knew that already.

 

[ricky_s]

But you are both rich & clever, so I expect you knew that already.

I wish!

 

[rustybarge]

Hi Ricky,

In think the MF 805 is a better bet. Most seem to have a nanny 200 hp diesel which uses 4 gals /hr at 15 kts= about 4 mpg. The prices seem to be about £40k, offers of around £30k??

Whereas the 925 with about 285hp uses 7 gals / hr= 2 mpg. Asking about £60k.

How much extra space is there on a 925 to merit the extra purchase price, and running costs?

 

[taz]

Hi Ricky,

In think the MF 805 is a better bet. Most seem to have a nanny 200 hp diesel which uses 4 gals /hr at 15 kts= about 4 mpg. The prices seem to be about £40k, offers of around £30k??

Whereas the 925 with about 285hp uses 7 gals / hr= 2 mpg. Asking about £60k.

How much extra space is there on a 925 to merit the extra purchase price, and running costs?

Depends if he is going to cruise the entire Med or not.

 

[gravygraham]

. . .but is it likely to get even better over the next few months?

I suspect not. Of course there will always be desperados wanting to part with their mobo, but with spring and lighter evenings not too far distant I'd be holding firm if I was selling.

But what do I know . . .

Good luck with your hunt.

 

[EugeneR]

I've heard from several sellers that their brokers have advised them to drop by 5% to reflect the fact that the boat is "a year older" and in order to generate some interest.

Personally, I expect depreciation to happen over the season rather than by calendar years; also considering whether the major costs for that year e.g. servicing / antifouling etc has been incurred or not - one big cost being mooring which, in some places, run from 1 April.

 

[beejay190]

Hi Ricky,

In think the MF 805 is a better bet. Most seem to have a nanny 200 hp diesel which uses 4 gals /hr at 15 kts= about 4 mpg. The prices seem to be about £40k, offers of around £30k??

Whereas the 925 with about 285hp uses 7 gals / hr= 2 mpg. Asking about £60k.

How much extra space is there on a 925 to merit the extra purchase price, and running costs?

I dont think they are comparable. The 925 is a FlyBridge whereas with the 805 the helm is indoors - ok i spose if that is what you want.

 

[PaulGooch]

Hi Ricky,

In think the MF 805 is a better bet. Most seem to have a nanny 200 hp diesel which uses 4 gals /hr at 15 kts= about 4 mpg. The prices seem to be about £40k, offers of around £30k??

Whereas the 925 with about 285hp uses 7 gals / hr= 2 mpg. Asking about £60k.

How much extra space is there on a 925 to merit the extra purchase price, and running costs?

Those fuel figures are a mile off. An 805 with the Nanni engine will use closer to 30 litres an hour at cruise. Typically 1.5 to 2.0 litre per nm, depending on conditions.

A 925 with the KAMD300 will use more per hour, but cruise at a higher speed, resulting in very similar nmpg figures.

That said, when we were looking for our next boat (after the 805), we decided the 805 was a nicer boat than the 925. The layout of the 925 isn't very nice, the seating is very cramped (impossible to sit behind the table unless you are a dwarf) and the flybridge is very small and sparse.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I'm not convinced that the market is ready to pick up yet, especially given the fragility of our Eu neighbours, so for me, there is further to go.

Agreed. Whatever the Brussels fat cats might say about light at the end of the Eurozone tunnel, the fact is that the price of saving the Euro will be years of economic austerity, especially in the Club Med countries. Chuck in a few bash the rich type taxes aimed at boat owners which increasingly desperate Club Med govts might be tempted to bring in, such as they have already done in Italy, and increasing duties on fuel and IMHO, that all means a depressed boat sales market in Europe for the foreseeable future. I reckon its going to take a few years of sustained economic growth to see boat prices stabilise in Europe and we're years or maybe even decades off seeing that

 

[hlb]

One whole section of the mobo market has disappeard and it has been constantly attacked for years. The fuel cost being the final curtain.

Many boaters thought nothing of taking trips of hundreds of miles. Which of course was the asperation of newbies. Now that is not really pracical. Very many are not very satisfide with a trip round to the local anchorage, if indead you can still find one that does not entail costs.

Trips to France Holand and Belgium have been attacked by beurocracy, to the point of, is it worth going. Even if it is all just rumour.

Motorboating has been reduced to a trip round the bay and back again. Folk will soon get fed up with that, so it will be the next generation for sale.

 

[rustybarge]

I dont think they are comparable. The 925 is a FlyBridge whereas with the 805 the helm is indoors - ok i spose if that is what you want.

Just looking at an old Mbm of autumn 2009, you could buy a brand new MF 805 for £76k , including all the extras, actual discounted sale price.

Now 4 years old, and working on the principle that a boat will lose half it's value Over that period, the asking prices of £40k don't seem very cheap.
Guesstimate: prob. Worth about £30 k or less ?

Can't find the new discounted price for the MF 925 from that period.

 

[MapisM]

Motorboating has been reduced to a trip round the bay and back again. Folk will soon get fed up with that

Not necessarily. Boats are a mean to an end, and for many, myself included, the end is enjoying the SEA (not the boat) at its fullest. And it doesn't take thousands of miles to do so, it's sufficient to keep your boat in a place with lovely surroundings.
When I bought my first and current trawler, the plan was to see if we enjoyed long distance cruising at displacement speed, and possibly move up afterwards to another similar but stronger vessel, capable of ocean crossing. And for years, we did enjoy long(ish) cruises. We also went to the US in a boat hunting trip, looking for a steel boat as next step - though we didn't find one which we really liked (thanks God, in hindsight).
As time moved on, we realised that the usage you describe - trips round the bay and back again - is not less fun at all.
Let's face it, as much as we all reject the floating caravans idea, that's what pleasure boats are actually meant to be.
To go places, they invented jetliners. Life's too short to not use them.

 

[ari]

One whole section of the mobo market has disappeard and it has been constantly attacked for years. The fuel cost being the final curtain.

Many boaters thought nothing of taking trips of hundreds of miles. Which of course was the asperation of newbies. Now that is not really pracical. Very many are not very satisfide with a trip round to the local anchorage, if indead you can still find one that does not entail costs.

Trips to France Holand and Belgium have been attacked by beurocracy, to the point of, is it worth going. Even if it is all just rumour.

Motorboating has been reduced to a trip round the bay and back again. Folk will soon get fed up with that, so it will be the next generation for sale.

You've only got to look at the engine hours on the vast majority of secondhand boats to see that very few indeed are used for trips of "hundreds of miles".

 

[EugeneR]

Many boaters thought nothing of taking trips of hundreds of miles. Which of course was the asperation of newbies. Now that is not really pracical.

It's not? Oh dear, there goes my dream... I'll just continue to hope that the lower prices will offset some of the fuel increase for a couple of years. And only buy what I can afford to run without worrying too much.

My experience was that, when the recession started, 2nd hand car prices fell to the floor. Two or so years later, some segments were above where they started as some people did not replace their cars after 3 years and more people wanted to buy 2nd hand than new.

My concern is - will there remain enough people buying new boats?

 

[hlb]

When I had my last boat, after ten years, I sold it for 8 grand more than I paid for it and this was quite normal.. If I look at the history of my next boat, sale price was a bit more than when it was new, this remained the same for about twenty years.

Now it's droped like a stone.

 

[[2068]]

If I paid £850 for my current boat, but it's only is worth £600, and I can upgrade to something bigger for an extra £400, what's the problem, if a couple of years ago mine might have been worth more, but the gap was bigger.

Falling values is mainly a problem for people who are either: financed up to their ears, trying to get out of boating, or buying new (depreciation is steeper). For a newbie cash buyer or upgrader with a bit of cash buying s/h, it's Christmas all over again.

 

[hlb]

Yes but falling prices reflects the whole industry. So say you can only afford a fifty grand boat, instead of a hundred.

Your not going to be happy with the five grand mooring cost Or the big bills in mainainance.

We will presume that the marina business plan, was for bigger, more expencive boats each year, there for more earnings, so they would budget for better facilities.

Turn tht round and there is no money for investmentand the place goes to the dogs.

 

[[2068]]

I do most of my own maintenance, and the "security" gate is still broken, so maybe their maintenance budget got spent on the staff Christmas party? Mine will go on making sure the toilet doesn't empty itself into the bilge again.

There are spaces in the marina, but it's not exactly tumbleweed in the Solent just yet.

Other places might be having a harder time.