Boat prices in Australia taking a tumble

Todays observations of boats I have been following over the years in the powercat liveboard - passagemaker category
Seeing the prices take a smack makes me wonder why I am building

40 ft Stanyon was $525 now $450…………. -15%
I have looked at this several times, nice boat if only she had a bit more WLL (new version does)

http://www.boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-sale/used/power-boats/stanyon-cruise-cat-40/84536


47.7 ft of alloy
Was $895 now $695 ………………. -22%

http://www.boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-sale/used/power-boats/flybridge-power-catamaran/58799


One of my favorites, was $750 now $540 ………………-28%

http://www.boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-sale/used/sailing-boats/brady-52-motor-sailor/103340


Nice concept
COLIN AYRES IMP 55 POWER CAT
Was $725 now $590,000 ………………. -18.5%

http://www.boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-sale/used/power-boats/colin-ayres-imp-55-power-cat/81346

 

Well, I hope you weren't building with dreams of making a profit from a one-off....

 

I think the price reductions are normal. Most sellers but a bit of wriggle room.

BUT --now they have used that up. The marina I am sat in now has many boats for sale, I would expect any reasonable offers or cheeky ones to be accepted.

Im glad I don't build boats for a living, diversify NOW.

Maybe errr fibre glass garbage bins.

 

Meh... I have a better idea. Partner with a golf cart distributor, and build custom cart bodies -- especially some with nautical or automotive themes. The first ones could be on spec; then you could take custom orders.

I sketched out a great little cart a couple of years ago that roughly suggested a tubby, cartoonish Spanish galleon: gnarly lapstrake planking sweeping up to a stubby bowsprit; a stern castle for tossing the golf bags into, etc. The awning could have been played with to suggest sails.

It also couldn't hurt to try the '57 Chevy look, complete with tail fins and dashboard. Or maybe the '50 ford look, for the older clientele. The operative word is 'suggest;' the bodies don't have to be an accurate representation of anything.

I expect royalties from whoever swipes this idea....

 

In markets like this my standard offer will be 50% of the asking price and I'll be firm about, knowing they'll immediately turn me away. More often then not, I'll get a call a month or two later asking if my offer still stands, at which point I now have them over a barrel. The same rule applies to all the usual commodities, houses, cars, used ex-wives, etc. If you have the money and can weather the current economic down turn, there's plenty of money to be made with really well acquired pieces, to be resold in a few years. I know a buddy, who just bought a '67 Impala SS convertible (numbers matching 327) for $1,500. The guy wanted $3,500 last summer, but took the $1,500 just after Christmas, as it was the only real offer to come. It's an old adage "you can't get what you don't ask for".

 

a big reason for the collapse in aus boat sales is that finance is almost impossible to obtain since the 2008 crisis according to a broker i know. apparently quite a few luxury boats sank and caught fire or were stolen at the time of the gfc. trouble was some of the owners got caught and the insurance did not have to pay out. so the financers were left with huge debts that could not be recovered from the bankrupt boat owners. also a lot of new marinas are advertising huge reductions to sell berths. if we wait long enough we should be able to get a nice boat and berth for a few bucks.

 

Interesting idea, Troy. Not that I want to swipe the idea, but people will go for something that 'individualizes' their possessions.

 

Do your realy think finance is an issue on 40 50 foot boats.

Its not just a boat its fuel , mooring, maintenance etc etc.

Not like a car thats necessary and you can go to work in it.

 

yes i do think it is a big issue. why do you think people lose there big houses and sports cars and boats in a credit crunch. because most of them are in debt to the hilt. look at how many of these multi millionares in australia get into financial trouble. they are only rich until the loan payments stop and then the proverbial hits the fan. i agree frosty that fuel and maintenance are a contributor as well, probably lots of other things as well. the ceo of a truck and machinery leasing company told me the same story about the finance as well. at the end of the day fuel and moorings don't matter if you can't get a loan in the 1st place.

 

I know of a twin to my 53' boat that's on the market for $255k, it was $350k last summer and I think $420k a year ago.

Yes mine's depreciated but I'll keep it forever so it doesn't matter.

You couldn't even build a boat anywhere near as nice,at half the length, for that

 

Sahbah, you've still gotta come up with a few hundred thousand at once, at least your sneaking up on the cost over a few years. Building your own gets what you want in your own time, like your not taxed on earning the funds for the labour component.

 

american imports are causing a lot of grief in our trailer boat industry. why would you not buy an import when you can get a later model better finished boat for 1/2 the price of an aussie one.

 

I notice all those boats (cats) are white in colour, maybe people who have to unload at a discount like white !

 

People that have 50' yachts aren't having money borrowing issues, nor are they experiencing the slip fee issues. They are having difficulty selling their yachts, but this is typical in a slow market. The statistics clearly show, it's not the big boats that are being sold or foreclosed on, but smaller, in most cases much smaller boats. Folks that can afford 7 and 8 figure yachts can absorb economic down turns, with some adjustments. Even if they've been highly speculative, with their little empires, they can dog down and accept 2 weeks in Monaco, instead of a full 2 months, as their birthday present to the other half. Slip fees, maintenance costs, etc. are nothing more then the cost of ownership, on these yachts and though it is something they consider unloading when it gets tight, they as owners of their little empires, aren't going to get too beat up over it.

On the other hand, there is a huge percentage of folks that have second mortgages on their primary and only residence, to purchase a 28', two story tall BayLiner, which is now several month in arrears. These are the folks, the ones that are losing their boats and taking huge price reductions, to just get the damn thing sold.

Trailer boats are getting sold and repossessed at an alarming rate, much like cars and houses, in middle income brackets. A much higher percentage then the upper income brackets, who are considerably more isolated economically, then the hand to mouth bunch.

The few high end yachts that you see showing up on the market, likely have been on the market for a long time. The owners, not willing to accept a lose or holding a ridiculous price point, prevent the yacht from being sold. Only exceptional examples, at reasonable prices are being sold. They know all they have to do is wait, which is precisely what they're doing and they'll get their price. The hand to mouth bunch can't afford to do this and are taking huge hits in a depressed market.

If you do find a 50' yacht for a ridiculous price, avoid it as it is owned by someone that shouldn't have bought it and very likely hasn't maintained it. Just what you need a great price on a boat that hasn't seen routine maintenance in 5 to 10 years. What could go wrong with this. The first thing to slow or stop is regular maintenance and care. They stop having the boat buffed and cleaned. Then they stop having the regular service preformed, then they only address things, if it's leaking or falling off.

How do I know? I service these yachts and I have customers coming back to me now, after a 3 year layoff, needing 2 and 3 times as much work, because they couldn't afford to have it done in the last few years. There's surly an upsurge in this type of work now happening, suggesting the one's that can afford it, are beginning to relax a bit and have the necessary things preformed again. The hand to mouth gang will be a year or so behind these folks, but I don't deal with them as much. I'll start seeing more repairs on the smaller, trailer boats by year's end.

 

I wish I could contribute something, but PAR already said everything I would have.

As an aside, I think boats (multihulls, anyway) were overpriced for some time in Australia.

You'd frequently see Aussies traveling abroad to buy boats because the prices were too high at home.