Used sailboat market

[skylark]

So from everything that I have heard, the US boat market is in the dumps due to the recession.

However, when I scan used boat sites to see what is available, there is not a lot of selection out there and prices are not low.

What do you think of the current small voyaging sailboat market?  As a buyer or as a seller? What region are you in?

[nmwarren]

I'm in Texas...

I think the boat market is still somewhat similar to usual.  As always, with some patience, you can get great deals on neglected/abandoned boats that just cosmetically need a lot of work.  Beautiful boats that have been really well maintained and loved still draw a lot of attention and fair price.

Anyways, the reason prices still look high on the online ads is that people are asking what they WANT to get for the boat, not what it may actually get right now.  I think a lot of the well-kept boats for sale that are not selling might go for a year or two before they sell...i.e. the owner still enjoys the boat and would rather hang on and use the boat for a couple more years than sell for a really depressed price.

I also feel like trailerable boats haven't dropped in price much at all...trailer sailors are an attractive alternative to get rid of slip fees and other expenses.  I just easily sold my Kittiwake 23 + trailer last November for the asking price ($300 more than I paid for it in fall 2007).  I had the teak and topsides paint looking great on that boat.

FYI, check out sailingtexas.com...it's a good tool to keep track of ballpark asking and selling prices for all kinds of boats from all over the country.

[LooseMoose]

One of the reasons boats are keeping their value better than so many other things these days is that boats are REAL...So much of the economic downturn is really about nebulous things losing value (if some of them ever had any) like stocks and such. Boats being real will always have a value.

Best deals on boats is always going to be searching out the boats that have fallen out of fashion rather than just old or needing work.

Bob

http://boatbits.blogspot.com/
http://fishingundersail.blogspot.com/

[dnice]

I think nmwarren and LooseMoose both hit the nail on the head.

Most of the boats I see on the websites have been for sale for well over a year. The ones that go for good prices are usually on ebay and even then they can go for what I would consider a normal price. And I think the websites don't really reflect what the actual market (although ebay can give you a good idea) prices are doing since they are mostly brokers and relying heavily on negotiating.

The thing about the economy here is that the rich keep on getting richer. The worse the economy gets the worse off the 'little people' get. So the nice yacht market probably won't be effected too much. But the used/project boat market is where the good deals are (and always have been).

At this point, I still think its a buyers market all around, but I think has been for a long time.
One of the few places around here that are always hiring is a big motor yacht building company, if that tells you anything :/

I also wonder if the worse the economy gets, the more people will be looking for sailboats. Either to replace their motor boat, or to replace their house (or even just to have an escape route of sorts).

I forgot to add, LooseMoose is dead on, I know quite a few people (including my parents) who have completely got out of the stock market and are looking to invest in tangible things, like property or small business, and I keep telling them that a good sailboat will always be worth something. (they should invest in one and let me 'take care of it' :D)

[Amgine]

Hmmm...

When I purchased my boat 5 years ago it was in very good condition, I'd just had three boats in a row bid above their asking prices (I don't get into bidding wars at all on principle.) I paid the asking price because in that market, though high, it was what the market would bear then.

Sister boats today in good to fine condition are asking half of what I paid.

I'm not looking at boats to purchase, just tracking my own boat model, and I think for this specific boat the market is relatively seriously depressed. It's trailerable, though getting toward the upper end of easily trailerable, yet despite that the asking prices have declined. And while I don't have any reports to support it, it seems that buyers are making offers substantially below the asking price and getting the boats.

[chris2998]

dnice you're right that is Trinity Yachts in Gulfport I think it is that is still hiring like crazy

[max_hyde]

A personal view from over the pond.

I've been looking at Rival 34's for a few years now, plan to sail away in the near future depending on possible early retirement.

Anyway the boat I am seeking is the deep keel version, I have viewed a few and they are around the £30,000 mark, in the last year I have seen two of these boats drop in price to £19,000 and £24,000 both were similar in age to the £30,000 boats and the equipment, spec etc. were similar, in the last few years I have not found any of these boats below £30,000, maybe this is due purely to personal circumstances of the owners or could it be a general downward trend, who knows, the sellers certainly wont say, and brokers are gereally not going to give you the real reason for sale!

As an aside the second hand car market in the UK (12 month to 24 month old) prices are going through the roof as people are not trading in their cars but keeping them a little longer so making nearly new cars hard to get hold off, also people are buying 12 month old cars rather than take the tax hit (25% depreciation as you drive it off the forecourt) on a new car.

Due to my long term plans i'm considering jumping in but part of me is thinkin? 30% drop in one year, what could prices be like in another? I'd be gutted if I bought it for £24,000 and could have got it for £15,000 in another year! (£9,000 = a lot of equipment, spends for cruising etc.)

Cheers max

[okawbow]

I've watched a couple of Bristol 32's go down several thopusand in asking price in the past 4 months. However, I recently sold a Santana 20 and trailer for more than I paid a couple years ago. I've even seen a couple virtually free project boats that I would have loved to get; but they didn't have titles. In Illinois, it's virtually impossible to title an out of state boat that has no title.

[jotruk]

The used sailboat market seems to be holding its own in most cases. I have been watching a couple of 34 foot trawlers for the past 5 or 6 months and the price has dropped about 10,000. looks like it will keep going down. Sail boats seem to be the best investment . I have a couple of friends that want to purchase a trawler type boat and they have decided to wait and see what the market will do in a couple of months.

[Oldrig]

A New England-based marine surveyor (He's the guy who surveyed my boat for me six years ago) recently sent me an e-mail saying that he's been busier than ever this early in the season, because there are so many used boats on the market. He also suggested that most interested buyers could drive very hard bargains.

This is anecdotal evidence (I haven't contacted any other surveyors to see how their business is going), but he did suggest that there are lots of used boats out there. Sailboats probably won't drop in price the way powerboats have, but evidence suggests that this is definitely a buyer's market, at least here in the Northeast.

--Joe

[keelbolts]

I didn't see it, but a coworker, knowing me to be a sailor, asked if I'd seen the article in the local paper about boats in Florida.  It seems there are a bunch of folks just walking away from their boats down there.  I think you'll only see more of that, but more so in the larger boats than our little cruisers.

[Oldrig]

You might contact marinas or boatyards. Supposedly they are ending up owning more and more boats for unpaid storage fees. In some jurisdictions they can auction them off. In others they just put 'em in the crusher.

--Joe

[chris2998]

that is what I have been told that it is deffinatly a buyers market so I am just taking my time and looking. There have been some really nice boats come onto the market lately so hopefully I will be able to find something soon.

Chris