Yacht brokerage sales results in the United States in January were higher than the same month a year earlier, but down somewhat from December 2009.
December and January are normally the weakest sales months of the year, based on average sales data. Paradise yachts had a record 4th quarter with 6 boats to our credit.
Paradise Yachts has begun a busy year with a sale of a 44 DeFever in January, a 58 Hatteras LRC closed yesterday and a sea trial/survey for a 38 Bayliner is on for this Thursday; boats are selling.
The boat market continues its climb out of a dismal 2009.
My 2009 4th quarter boat boats sales were all within the 10% off asking prices; the offer we wrote last week was only 8% off the asking price.
January unit sales figures show the following for the US market; we are currently only 16% below the record year of 2007
The types of boats sold in January are as follows; the sailboat market has picked up too.
According to sales reported by YachtWorld.com, boat sales in January 2010 improved over January 2009 by 29 percent, with 1,610 boats sold, and valuation of boats sold increased even more, by 42 percent. .
On the plus side for many brokers, bigger boats continue to sell significantly better compared to the same period of 2009. While sales of boats up to 55 feet long were up 25 to 30 percent, 66 boats over 55 feet changed hands, which represented a 78 percent increase from January 2009.
Powerboats led the increase in January, with a 30 percent increase in units and a 45 percent increase in valuation over January 2009. By comparison, sailboat sales improved by 26 percent in terms of units and valuation.
Although boat unit sales are improving, the time it takes to move a boat now averages 293 days, up from 260 days a year ago.
