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Subject: Re: [world-cruising] Buyer's Market
From: Bryan Genez (capella@XXX.XXX)
Date: Mon Apr 07 2003 - 11:22:34 EDT
JAXAshby@XXX.XXX wrote:
> Reality of the used sailboat market today is that there are *very* few buyers
> out there right now, and most of them have been patiently waiting -- cash in
> hand -- for the bargains to start to show up. About the only thing propping
> up the used sailboat market right now is that fewer and fewer and fewer boat
> owners are offering their boats right now, hoping that the market will
> "return to normal" (i.e., boat going up 20% in price as they did in the late
> '90's when baby boomers felt flush with stock market profits and/or home real
> estate profits).
FWIW, my experience differs from your opinions. There are still many buyers
out there, and I see them daily. As I said earlier, there is a facet of the
sailboat (and probably the powerboat) market that is down. That is the
boats that cost about the same as a home, that buyers finance like they
would a vacation home. The less expensive boats are selling quickly -
probably less risk to the buyers; and the more expensive boats are still
selling at the same rates we've seen for years. I guess the wealthy still
are.
>
> Will the used sailboat market return? Not likely, for fewer and fewer and
> fewer people are sailing each year and baby boomers are now edging towards
> the creakiness of old age. According to the US Dept of Parks (which surveys
> recreational activities), between 1996 and 2000 the number of people who
> stepped foot on a sailboat even once in the previsous year dropped by half.
> Don't know the numbers for 2001/2002 but expect many more left as well. This
> year the NYC boatshow (which I've attended since 1983) dropped in paid
> attendance by 26% over 2002, and those who did pay admitance didn't stay very
> long. The place had a library like quiet.
The NY show is probably as "regional" as it gets. It's also a winter show.
I've been working at the Annapolis shows in October for the past ten years.
Clearly, the traffic at those shows has dropped off a small percentage over
the past three years. But our new boat sales have been steady, and while
the number of brokerage boats sold is about the same, the average price has
dropped somewhat.
There is a significant move of the vanguard of boomers out of sailing and
into cruising powerboats (trawlers and the like).
-- Best,Bryan (KB3HMZ) "Capella" Valiant 40 #158 Annapolis, MD
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