After September’s figures, which saw a number of 2009 brokerage sales records broken, October proved to be a more sobering month, with 14 superyachts reported sold at asking prices totalling just over €70 million, a far cry from September’s totals of 24 yachts at €373 million. Talking to brokers, there is some speculation as to whether we’ve witnessed a ‘dead cat bounce’ or if, after numerous yacht viewings at the recent Monaco and Fort Lauderdale boat shows, the offers will now start coming in. Either way, brokers are unanimous that too many sellers are continuing to set unrealistic asking prices and that the right boat at the right price will still sell.
Toby Maclaurin at Ocean Independence asks, “Do we see a repeat of last year when the end of summer brought an abrupt end to yacht sales? Well not quite. The resurgence in activity we saw in August and September has most certainly died off and the most commonly heard word heard in connection with business at the Fort Lauderdale Show is ‘disappointing’.
“However, our business has always enjoyed elements of seasonality and large elements of randomness and, as hard as we try to analyze, there is never really enough data to produce statistics that are powerful enough to show large trends. People in the car trade would probably describe every large yacht sale as an anomaly, which in a way they are.”
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.
Toby concludes by saying, “We would say that our charter bookings and enquiries for the winter are much more encouraging than 2008 and we do predict more sales before the end of this most unusual and unpredictable year.”
The first chart below shows the value of yachts sold since January 2009 and aptly illustrates September’s position as the high point of the year so far.
Superyachts sold in October 2009
The second chart below indicates the value of sales by length and shows that large yachts in the 50-70m range are running neck-and-neck with those in the 30-40m range, at €323 million each, while yachts over 70m continue to hold pole position with total values in 2009 now running at €394 million.
Superyachts sold by length in 2009
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