Have used boat prices peaked?

[Jim_in_Delaware]

It has been a long time since I have seen this many used boats for sale in middle of June. The number of boats (at least for the manufacturers I am interested in) seem to have exploded on Facebook Marketplace.

I'm guessing that with the covid emergency being over, high inflation, high gas prices, and climbing interest rates, some folks are rethinking boat ownership. Yes, prices are still all over the place, but I am seeing more boats and some more reasonable prices than just a couple of months ago. Still planning on waiting till the beginning of Fall (don't have much time to boat this Summer anyway) to begin my search in earnest.

Jim

 

[johhnyboat]

yes

 

[HangOutdoors]

They really peaked a couple months ago or so. You will see some who will still go fairly high on their sale price, but your analysis is spot on. When the everything tanks pretty good within the next 12 months it is going to get a bit rough. People are starting to bail now on some luxury items before they are worth far less.

 

[Mjones]

Just read this yesterday. I don't feel they have peaked. 'Somebody forgot to tell the boat industry' about inflation, the bear market, and recession fears (msn.com)

 

[BlkGS]

Nothing has peaked in price because we have insane inflation. Until our currency stabilizes, the value of durable goods will keep going up as the value of the currency falls.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

What the author of the article neglects to mention however is that the boats the dealers are selling now are pre-orders from last fall/winter. My wild ass guess is that fewer new boats are getting ordered now. I recently got a quote on a 21foot Robalo and the dealer was still tacking on 10% in extra fees and telling me there will be a 12% increase for 2023. Screw that, I’m currently seeing a lot of 3 year old boats with low hours selling now for 20K less, and we are still in the peak Summer boating season.

Jim

 

[Taylorman]

I think we’re entering the crest where more popular brands/boating segments are still hitting the market with high prices but time to close is likely slowing. Less popular brands and boating segments are likely ahead of the curve and prices are adjusting downward due to slower sale cycles. Price points also play a role as more expensive boats may be slower to adjust this early.

I’m waiting on a new 252SE but if it doesn’t arrive I’m not rolling my deposit to a 2023 with a higher price tag. Baring something crazy I’ll buy the 2022 if it arrives but I expect used boats to reset in the offseason. The pendulum in these situations always over swings. I just hope it doesn’t over to the downside near as much as it over swung to the high side.

 

[Rockit69]

Until the new boat market can get their sealegs, not this year, used boat prices will remain high. You are still hard pressed to find a decent used boat in the N.W. without paying a pretty penny.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I don't think it will slide down tremendously. It will come down a bit for used boats and level out I think. Around here for boats, on Facebook, Boating sites, etc. Prices are coming down a bit. Boats are staying longer on market around here as well. Sellers are reducing prices after a week or two, if they don't sell. Plenty of used Yamaha's with lower hours and good condition going on the market around here. Those that are priced up are just sitting there for weeks or more on end. Boat launches aren't as crowded as I thought they would be as well on the weekends and you can get a spot. Gas sucks on the Great Lakes, but I didn't expect nothing less.

 

[the MfM]

I haven’t followed prices/sales too closely but I can say there is a lot less boat traffic on the lake at our place.

 

[Taylorman]

Until the new boat market can get their sealegs, not this year, used boat prices will remain high. You are still hard pressed to find a decent used boat in the N.W. without paying a pretty penny.

That’s only true if the demand remains constant, which it won’t. The efforts to address inflation, at least this far, are laser focused on driving down demand. As that begins to take hold we’ll start seeing Covid-induced restrictions being removed to remove supply burdens. The impact of Russia/Ukraine will likely weigh on the global economy for some time IMHO. My musing on the global economy aside, the salient point is that lowering demand will help offset supply issues and drive prices downward.

 

[BlkGS]

That’s only true if the demand remains constant, which it won’t. The efforts to address inflation, at least this far, are laser focused on driving down demand. As that begins to take hold we’ll start seeing Covid-induced restrictions being removed to remove supply burdens. The impact of Russia/Ukraine will likely weigh on the global economy for some time IMHO. My musing on the global economy aside, the salient point is that lowering demand will help offset supply issues and drive prices downward.

Yup our idiots in charge seem intent to use Russia as an excuse to crater the economy. The fed seems to want to combat inflation with stagflation, instead of getting government spending under control.

The CORRECT way to solve this is require the federal government to reduce the money supply by cutting its expenditures and removing trillions they created out of thin air from existence. If they cut the federal budget by a couple trillion over the next few years and paid down the national debt, we'd be in good shape likety split. But that'd require cutting foreign aid, government waste, entitlement programs, etc and go over really poorly.so they'll just keep making the same mistakes and we will suffer for it.

 

[Epsmith19]

Until the new boat market can get their sealegs, not this year, used boat prices will remain high. You are still hard pressed to find a decent used boat in the N.W. without paying a pretty penny.
[/QUOTE

I think you'll see new inventory recovery quickly as more and more people back out of pre-orders due to higher interest, looming recession and higher gas prices

 

[mwalker4]

Yup our idiots in charge seem intent to use Russia as an excuse to crater the economy. The fed seems to want to combat inflation with stagflation, instead of getting government spending under control.

The CORRECT way to solve this is require the federal government to reduce the money supply by cutting its expenditures and removing trillions they created out of thin air from existence. If they cut the federal budget by a couple trillion over the next few years and paid down the national debt, we'd be in good shape likety split. But that'd require cutting foreign aid, government waste, entitlement programs, etc and go over really poorly.so they'll just keep making the same mistakes and we will suffer for it.

Unfortunately I agree. I'm not confident it gets done without a crises. What type of crises is the question.

As far as used boats go, the price will definitely under perform overall inflation.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Folks, lets please keep this thread on-topic. While we should acknowledge the current economy and the effects on boating, I hope to discuss boat prices and inventories and not monetary and/or political policies.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[MrBubbaGump]

I don't think so, just needed summer to hit. I had my other boat listed for sale for about 3 months with little traction. Then after memorial day weekend had a list of about 10 people while i was out of town wanting to buy the boat. Ended up selling for full asking price to the first person to see it.

 

[BlkGS]

Folks, lets please keep this thread on-topic. While we should acknowledge the current economy and the effects on boating, I hope to discuss boat prices and inventories and not monetary and/or political policies.

Thanks,

Jim

Boat prices are a result of monetary policies. Boat prices will go down, adjusted for inflation, Bute their core value will keep rising, which may or may not mean purchase price goes up. At a minimum, they will stay mostly flat.

If there is a recession, it will likely have a much smaller effect on prices than 08 because supply has been so constrained. It'll also be much less dramatic of a recession, as companies won't need to trim massive excess workforce and capacity, they're already running skeleton crews and minimal capacity due to shortages.

Frankly. The biggest thing that's going to change will be portfolio values and interest rates. That means that 100k 27' Boat gets a bit more expensive, but honestly if someone can afford that the extra interest won't be a big deal. The sub 30k Boat market will probably get hotter as people decide they'd rather spend 30k than 50k. I'd say the 40 to 80k Boat market is where it drops the most, but even then, likely not as much as one would think.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Boat prices are a result of monetary policies. Boat prices will go down, adjusted for inflation, Bute their core value will keep rising, which may or may not mean purchase price goes up. At a minimum, they will stay mostly flat.

If there is a recession, it will likely have a much smaller effect on prices than 08 because supply has been so constrained. It'll also be much less dramatic of a recession, as companies won't need to trim massive excess workforce and capacity, they're already running skeleton crews and minimal capacity due to shortages.

Frankly. The biggest thing that's going to change will be portfolio values and interest rates. That means that 100k 27' Boat gets a bit more expensive, but honestly if someone can afford that the extra interest won't be a big deal. The sub 30k Boat market will probably get hotter as people decide they'd rather spend 30k than 50k. I'd say the 40 to 80k Boat market is where it drops the most, but even then, likely not as much as one would think.

I was concerned that if we talked about monetary policy we would drift into politics. Thanks for sharing this post.

Jim

 

[HangOutdoors]

A lot of used Yamaha's going on the Market it appears. Prices appear to be going down. More on Facebook Marketplace than I have seen in quite some time.

 

[BlkGS]

Its almost the end of summer, people probably are trying to dump them before having to store thru winter.

That said, I've noticed a lot more price drops in real estate too. Seems like new cars are starting to come down in pricing too. I think the spike in interest rates is having a very damaging effect on sales of these things, because very few people have cash anymore.

None of that is surprising as we have steered ourselves into a recession.