Great news coming out of the yachting industry! Led by sales of large high-value boats, the U.S. yacht brokerage market turned sharply upward in May 2011, with an extraordinary $552 million in total value of boats, sailboats and yachts sold, according to reports by member yacht brokers of SoldBoats.com and Yachtworld.com.
The dollar value was up 94%, or $267 million, from sales in April 2011, and up 67%, or $221 million, from sales in May of 2010.
The total number of brokerage yachts sold in May was 3% lower than in May 2010, with 3,253 boats changing hands, compared with 3,359 a year earlier. In most size ranges, sales were slightly lower or even with the previous year, but among the largest boats, yachts over 55′, sales increased 3%, from 82 to 114, and the boats that were sold brought much higher prices. The total value of those 114 boats was $317 million, compared with $93 million for the 82 boats a in May 2010.
Through May, U.S. yacht brokerage sales remain 4% lower than through the first five months of 2010, with 11,913 boats sold. With the recent month’s increase in total sales value, year-to-date sales are now valued at $1.45 billion, an increase of $106 million from the same period in 2010.
Source: Dominion Marine Media, John Burnham
