Hardly a day goes by without one brokerage house or another boasting that a yacht they represent has dropped its asking price. To me this says one of two things.
- Either the brokerage house originally advised the seller that his yacht was worth more than it is and has now chosen to change its mind
or
- The seller is desperate to sell.
Either scenario is a poor reflection on the industry and publicising price reductions seems to do little to promote the industry we all depend on
Hein Velema the CEO of Fraser Yachts has said in a statement issued recently that the brokerage market for large yachts is still very weak. He points out that only 4% of the yachts sold were over 50 metres. He confirmed that the number of superyachts (over 24 metres) sold by brokerage houses during the first four months of 2012 is the same the number sold over the same period last year.
Yet despite this dismal sounding remark he highlights the fact that the total value of those sales is in fact 12% higher this year when compared to figures for the same period last year.
Research carried out by Fraser Yachts suggests that many yachts are still being sold with a high discount. This can be looked at this in two different ways. Compare the “selling price” with the original “asking price” and the average discount so far in 2012 has been 36% while it was an average of 46% in 2011.
However since many yachts gradually lower their “asking price” over the period they are for sale these figures can become skewed. So if the “selling price” is compared with the latest “asking price” the discounts year to date have been closer to 25% compared to 28% in 2011.
This complicated calculation shows that there is a third alternative that I should have mention above and it is a very simple fact: Sellers are now becoming more realistic in their original asking prices.