January Brings Increase in U.S. Brokerage Sales

Compared to January 2011, U.S. yacht brokerage sales increased in January 2012 by 4%, and total valuation of the boats sold rose by 9%. According to sales reported by YachtWorld member yacht brokerage firms, 1,628 boats, yachts, and sailboats changed hands last month for an aggregate price of $193 million. Compared to December 2011, sales in January were also higher by 4%; total value was just about level.

Larger yachts continued to sell well in January. Sales of boats over 55′ increased 24%, with 68 boats sold, and valuation of sales rose 27% to $78 million. The superyacht segment of that group contributed about $12 million to the valuation gains, with 13 boats over 80′ sold, compared to 9 a year earlier.

Boat sales also increased in the mid-sized categories of 36 to 45 feet, up 7% to 368 boats, and 46 to 55 feet, up 11% to 103 boats. Among boats under 26′, sales increased as well, gaining 7%, to 503 boats; however, among boats 26 to 35 feet, sales declined 3 percent to 568 boats.

Average sale prices were relatively level among most sizes of boats, except among boats under 26′ and boats 46 to 55′. While more boats were sold in each category, total sales value declined; this lowered the average price for the small boats from $20,000 to $18,300 and for the larger boats from $305,000 to $241,000. The latter is a big jump, but keep in mind the relatively small sample size (103 boats) and that there’s a wide range of pricing for boats 46 to 55′.

Looking at the chart of monthly sales for 2012 versus 2011 and a 5-year average for 2008-2012, the sale of 1,628 boats last month was above the 1,541-boat January average, and it was second only to January 2008 when 1,662 boats were sold. The lowest number of boats sold in the month over the 5-year span was in 2009, when 1,247 boats changed hands.

Source: John Burnham, Dominion Marine Media.