Yacht Sales Down 9% Overall Versus April ’10, Up on Larger Boats

April 2011 Yacht Sales Report: Down 9% overall, up slightly on larger yachts over 46′.

After weak sales of bigger boats in March 2010, U.S. yacht brokerage firms reported selling more boats longer than 46′ in April 2011 than they did in April 2010.

Sales in the U.S. brokerage market were down 9% overall in April, from 3,098 boats to 2,822, but 225 big boats changed hands, up from 210 a year earlier, and they sold for an extra $12 million. The total value of boats sold for the month was $285 million, down just $3 million from April 2010.

For the 1st quarter, unit sales overall were down 2%, compared with the same period in 2010, and powerboat sales were nearly even with the previous year. In April, however, powerboat closings fell 9%, as 2,295 boats were sold.

The decline in sailboats sold was almost the same (8%), to 527 boats. However, that was an improvement from sailboat sales for the 1st quarter, which were 13% lower than in 2010.

For the market as a whole, unit sales were off by 4% after four months, with 8,667 boats sold. The total value of those sales was $902 million, down $120 million, or almost 12%, from the same period 2010.

The average time for a yacht to sell in April was shorter than in the same month last year, falling six days, to 285 days. The average has moved a little higher in the spring, but the seasonality is normal; the average time to sell through April of this year is 273 days, which is also six days lower than for the same period in 2010.

Source: Dominion Marine (John Burnham)