July 2012 Market Report

The Highlander: yacht sold by Bradford Marine in July 2012

A selection of impressive yachts ordered, delivered and coming on to the market has added some sparkle to July’s slow but steady figures.

July 2012 in numbers

Brokerage Sales

We were told of 25 brokerage boats sold in July, a steady sales tally showing a modest increase on the 17 sold in June. July’s highlights included two Feadship motor yachts, the 46m 1986-launched Highlander and 1987-launched, 43m Kingfisher.

A year ago in July the figure was 29 – four more than this July. At that time, sales were tailing off from a notable Q2 high of 99, a figure not seen since the GFC and not repeated this year. Indeed, 179 boats were sold by the end of July 2011, compared with 143 sold so far this year. In hindsight it seems more and more as if 2011 was an exceptional year, rather than the beginning of a strong, long-term trend that would take the industry back to solid ground.

But if we look at this year so far in the context of the last few years, 2012’s sales figures don’t look so bad. This year’s 143 sales beats the 125 sold in the same period in 2010. Also, while brokers in our H1 market report said that the first quarter of 2012 was considerably better than the second, we no longer seem to be experiencing the violent highs and lows we did before 2011.

Superyacht sales in 2012

New to the market

Fewer yachts came to the market in July than in the previous month – 24 compared with June’s 31. The figure is also lower than that of July 2011, which was also 31. With a glut of yachts on the market, a drop in the number of new entrants is likely to be positive. Also, five of the yachts were launched in 2012 (an unusually high number) – meaning they are likely to leave the market more quickly than older boats.

July’s highlights include the 2008-launched, 75.5m Oceanco motor yacht Anastasia and the 2012-launched 39.9m J Class sailing yacht Rainbow.

Price reductions

We recorded 54 price reductions in July, compared with 60 in June, and 55 in July 2011 – a high but steady rate.

But we’ve had more this year than last overall: 432 up to the end of June 2012, compared with 350 in the same period last year. And there have been some major drops in July.

$4 million (31 per cent) was dropped from the $12.9 million price of 47.2m 1985 motor yacht Triumphant Lady, €1.050 million (23 per cent) was taken off the €4.5 million price tag of 34m 1997-launched Moonen Bonita J. There was also $4 million (14 per cent) off the well-known 45m McMullen & Wing explorer Big Fish, bringing the price to $25 million.

New orders

We recorded seven new orders in July 2012 compared to 15 in June and only three in July 2011. The year-to-date tally for 2012 is 57, an improvement on 2011’s 49.

Amongst July’s new orders were substantial motor projects – a 61m Hakvoort and a 49m Rossi Navi.

New superyacht orders in 2012

Launches

Twenty yachts were launched in July 2012 by ten different yards – two Chinese, five Turkish, five Italian, three Dutch, two Polish, one French, one Taiwanese and one from the UAE. They included the 72.10m Stella Maris motor yacht from Viareggio Superyachts and the 85.60m Y708 motor yacht by Oceanco.

The figure is an increase on June’s 16, and comparable with July 2011’s 19.

Superyacht launches in 2012

Deliveries

The number of deliveries has slipped slightly year on year, with 19 in July compared with 25 at the same time last year, but is up on last month’s 15. Owners took possession of some impressive yachts in July, including 73.55m Nobiskrug motor yacht Flying Fox, 78.5m Feadship motor yacht Hampshire II and 77m Hanseatic Marine motor yacht Smeralda.

Superyacht deliveries in 2012