March 2012 market report

HIGHLIGHTS

Buying a yacht? Questions you will be asked
Yachting experts share the question they ask the seller of a yacht, which help the buyer make the right purchase.

How to make build contracts watertight
The contract a yard gives a client is only the starting point for a negotiation, as it will be weighted in favour of the builder. The owner must ensure that the contract also protects their interests and the project itself.

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March 2012 in numbers

4		11		5		32		72		23
New orders		Launches		Deliveries		New for sale		Price updates		Yachts sold

Sales

A total of 23 yachts were sold in March, three fewer than in the same period last year. The yachts sold were all motor yachts bar one – the 24.72m Royal Huisman sailing yacht Black Shark of St Peter, which at €439,000 was also the lowest asking price. At 57.3m Excellence III was the largest yacht sold with an asking price of $45.95 million, while the smallest yacht sold was a 24m Manhattan 80 Sunseeker called Laura, asking €660,000. Ten of the yachts sold were in the 24 to 29m size bracket, a further eight in the 30 to 39m bracket, and four ranged from 42m to 49.8m in length.

Year-to-date sales are slightly below what they were for the same period last year with 51 yachts sold in the first three months of 2012 compared to 56 sold in the first quarter of 2011.

New orders

Four orders were placed for new-build superyachts in March versus three in the corresponding period last year. Three of these orders were for motor yachts: a 38.63m Sunseeker due for delivery in 2013; a 43m ISA due for delivery in 2014 and a 43m Christensen also scheduled for a 2014 delivery. The order for an 85m sailing yacht was placed with an undisclosed yard in the Netherlands.

Launches and deliveries

Launches continued apace with another 11 yachts hitting the water in March – the largest being Hanseatic Marine’s 77m Smeralda. However, the number pales in comparison to the 21 launches in the same month last year.

Five yachts were delivered to their owners in the period, as compared to nine delivered in March last year. These included the 96m motor yacht Vava II delivered by UK yard Pendennis Plus, the 73.55m Nobiskrug motor yacht Mogambo, two Gulf Craft motor yachts – a Majesty 121 and a Gulf 95 Exp – and a 32.4m Kestrel 106 sailing yacht.

New to the market

A total of 32 yachts came on the market in March, which compares to 43 in March last year. This brings to 95 the number of yachts new to the market since the beginning of the year. The largest new yacht on the market was the 58.9 metre motor yacht Idol with the average length being 36.3 metres. Eight of the yachts coming on to the market this month were sailing yachts.

Price reductions

With boat show season in full swing there were a spate of price reductions in March – 72 in all – quite a few of them on boats shown at Palm Beach International Boat Show. A total of €56.3 million was shaved off asking prices in March. The month’s most dramatic discount was the €3 million lopped off the price of Lady Sheila, a 44m Benetti motor yacht, and the sailing yachts Mondango and Mirabella III also saw significant price cuts of €2 million apiece.