If 2009 welcomed the New Year like the proverbial lamb, with only four yachts over 24 metres sold in January, it ended like a lion as no less than 30 superyachts roared off the sales books in December – a record for the year. The total value of sales for the month, by asking price, was €290.92 million as against September’s total of €373.79 million and, for the 12 months of 2009, we recorded an overall number of 190 superyachts sold totalling €1,834,889,469. However, these figures and the charts below don’t include the sale of a 140m new build from Fincantieri by Camper & Nicholsons. The value of the deal is very much under wraps but it is the biggest new construction order since the start of the recession in summer 2008 and by all accounts would comfortably push total sales in 2009 past the €2 billion mark.

Says Hein Velema, CEO of Fraser Yachts, “When we compare the number of yachts sold in 2008 with the number sold in 2009 we can see an interesting development in the market. From January to May 2009 sales volumes across the industry were way below the levels of the previous year; however in June and July the number of yachts being sold increased sharply, way ahead of the same months in 2008. Sales were strong right through the summer with a significant peak in September. But there are now 10% more yachts for sale now than there were in January 2009 with a significant increase in the number over 50 metres.”

Hein concludes by saying, “The Monaco and Fort Lauderdale shows are now several months behind us with little or no sales activity directly attributable to either. Things are still slow and we’re unlikely to see prices recover soon.”

The data presented below is based on reported sales by brokers and the yachts’ asking prices at the time of sale and of course we have to remind readers that some sales are so discreet that they pass under the radar.

TABLE 1: SUPERYACHTS SOLD IN DECEMBER 2009

CHART 1: SUPERYACHT SALES IN 2009 BY MONTH

The chart below shows the value of yachts sold since January and demonstrates again that September and December were the high points of the year.

CHART 2: SUPERYACHT SALES IN 2009 BY LENGTH

The chart below indicates the value of sales by length and demonstrates that yachts in the 50-70m range, at nearly €458 million clearly led the field overall for 2009.