TEXT BY JASON Y. WOOD
BREAKING OUT THE LATEST BOAT-SALES DATA FROM YACHT COUNCIL.
Demand Follows the Dow 300 267
275 250
236
205 194
200 175
215
226 188
182
187
150
162
3/30/10 10,907.42
75
12/31/10 11,577.51
134
130
100
6/30/11 12,414.34
3/31/11 12,319.73
153
125
256
255
215
225
263
249
160 144
134
Dow Jones Industrial Average Close for date given
6/29/10 9,870.30
9/30/10 10,788.05
50
Jan
Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan
Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept
2010
2011
NUMBER OF BOATS SOLD BY MONTH THROUGH YACHTCOUNCIL.COM As month-to-month sales show, boat-buyer confidence is tied to the financial markets. “What a seller will take for his boat changes day by day, often due to financial market conditions,” says Crom Littlejohn, a broker at Merle Wood and Associates in Fort Lauderdale. “If he frees up his cash, it allows him to invest it elsewhere.” 1
52
12
Less than $100K $100K-$199K
28
$500K-$999K
SOLD!
$1M-$5M
Ekkoh
Above $5M
This 2006 Ocean Alexander 58 is powered by twin 700-hp Caterpillar C-12 diesels with just 202 hours, and she sold after 201 days on the market.
28
NUMBER OF BOATS SOLD IN SEPTEMBER 2011, BY PRICE Buyers are looking for value—and that means finding newer pre-owned boats. “If I were a guy out looking to buy a boat—looking to own a boat—I’d just start making bona fide offers,” says Littlejohn, “and see who’s going to take my offer.”
78 PMYMAG.COM ❚ December 2011
Photo courtesy of Emerald Pacific Yachts
$200K-$499K
13