April 2012 market report

Steady as she goes is probably the best way to describe activity in the superyacht industry in April 2012, with relatively little change compared to March, although year on year comparisons do tell a slightly different story.

April 2012 in numbers

Sales

April yacht sales were on a par with March with 23 yachts sold, but slightly down on the 26 sold in April 2011. And once again only one of the yachts sold was a sailing yacht – the 29m Bristolian, asking €1.1 million. Most of the yachts sold were on the smaller end of the superyacht spectrum, with 11 in the 24 to 29m size bracket, and 11 in the 30 to 39m bracket, with seven of those below 32 metres in length. The 40.2m Horizon motor yacht Miss Rose took the title of the largest yacht sold in the month, asking $12.9 million. The average asking price of yachts sold in April 2012 was €3.8 million, a substantial drop on the average €7.3 million asked in April 2011.

More analysis of superyacht sales in 2012

Year-to-date sales are lagging behind those for the same period last year with 75 yachts sold to the end of April 2012 compared to 83 in 2011.

Yacht sales monthly tracker

New to the market

A total of 29 yachts came on the market in April, which compares to 33 in April last year. This brings to 127 the number of yachts new to the market since the beginning of the year. The largest new yacht on the market was the 77.3 metre Lone Ranger with the average length being 38.39 metres. Two of the yachts coming on to the market this month were sailing yachts.

Price reductions

Price reductions continued to roll in with April’s tally at 67, amounting to a €53,103,800 million discount on asking prices. The largest single reduction in was the $5.5 million drop in Laurel‘s price, although in percentage terms the 50% cut in price on the 27.54m Falcon was the most substantial.

The biggest price cut of April was the $5.5 million slashed off the asking price of Laurel

The largest yacht to be launched in April was Feadship’s 78.5m motor yachtHampshire II

Delivered to her owner in April, Oceanco’s 88.5m Nirvana made her debut on the Cote d’Azur

New orders

Six orders were placed for new-build superyachts in April, one more than the five ordered in the corresponding period last year. Amongst them is one sailing yacht – a 37.5m ordered from New Zealand’s Fitzroy Yachts, and due for delivery in 2014. The five motor yachts on order include a 38m from Admiral Tecnomar in Italy, a 41.05m from Gulf Craft in UAE, a 50m from an undisclosed yard in the USA, a 70m from an undisclosed yard in The Netherlands, and one other large motor yacht for which there are no known details currently.

More analysis of new orders in 2012

Launches and deliveries

Another 12 superyacht launches in April brought the year to date total to 46, and compares favourably to the nine launched in April 2011. The biggest splash came from Feadship’s 78.5m Hampshire II, followed by the 73m Project 422 at ADM Kiel.

More analysis of launches in 2012

Eleven superyachts were delivered to their owners in the period, two more than the number delivered in April last year. All motor yachts, the largest was the 88.5m Oceanco motor yacht Nirvana, followed by the 65.5m Sea Rhapsody and 55m Step One, both from Amels, Alloy Yachts’ 47m Loretta Anne and Heesen’s 44.77m Lady L.

Other notable April deliveries included four Asian-built yachts – from China, Kingship Marine’s 41.9m Star, from Taiwan, Horizon’s 27.3m Virginia, from Thailand, Silkline’s 39m power catamaran Phatsara, and from Singapore, the 39m Megaway 128.

More analysis of deliveries in 2012

Market activity YOY comparison