April 2010 Market Report

Brokerage:Â a buyer’s market

April 2010 saw 23 superyachts over 24 metres sold at total asking prices of €253 million, a marked increase over the March 2010 figures of 14 yachts sold asking a total of €153 million. This also represents a 36% increase on April 2009 when 21 yachts were sold asking €186 million.

Chart 1: Month-on-month and year-on-year comparisons by total value and volume
Chart 2: Month-on-month and year-on-year comparisons broken down by length

These positive sales figures are, however, balanced by the fact that we counted 34 yachts being put on the market in April, meaning that the stock of unsold yachts is continuing to grow.

The largest motor yacht sold in the month was CRN’s 72m Clarena II asking €58 million, while finally several sailing yachts also left the market, headed by Perini Navi’s 53m Independence at $24.95 million. Full details of the yachts sold in April can be found in Table 1 below.

As Independence was sold by Will Bishop at Yachting Partners International, we asked company CEO Bertrand Vogele for his views on the current state of play across the market. And we also spoke to Hein Velema, CEO at Fraser Yachts.

“In brokerage it is still very much a buyer’s market. » Says Bertrand, “Buyers are looking for more added value, more expertise and a lot more information and analysis on the yachts and the market. Last September we officially launched our specialist Sailing Division and the speed with which that took off surprised even us. Buyers are getting the expertise and insight they want and they are buying and selling their yachts through YPI – yachts like Independence, the biggest sailing yacht sold since Maltese Falcon last August. » Hein Velema at Fraser notes that it’s a fact that brokerage boats are being sold, although prices are still very low and he doesn’t see them going up any time soon.

Indeed, during the course of April 2010 we reported no fewer that 37 price reductions, the largest being on Oceanco’s 82m Alfa Nero, down by €10.75 million to €119 million. Here again Bertrand has something pertinent to say: “The price reductions still coming through worryingly seem to be encouraging sellers and buyers to hold off on transactions rather than encouraging them – an uncalled for signal that the bottom of the market may not yet have been reached. »

Charter

“The charter market is still very fragile. » says Bertrand at YPI, “There are lots of enquiries and bookings compared to last year are solid, but still everyone wants deals. The good news is that, within our Charter Division, our owners have more confidence now to refuse the low offers. » Here Hein Velema is in complete agreement, saying that the winter Caribbean season was very poor and he’s not sure that the company can make it up for the current year. However, bookings at the moment are comparable to the same period last year and he too notes that there is currently less discounting by yacht owners.

New Orders and Launches

We have reported only a handful of new orders since the beginning of 2010 and Bertrand comments: “The new build market has come to a halt. However, what bodes well for the future is that designers are talking with a lot of interested clients now but for the moment the yards are quiet – many fighting for any refit business that is now available. » However, Hein Velema does say that his brokers have reported increasing interest from owners in new build projects.

We tracked 17 new launches in April 2010, and it is interesting to note that a number of these yachts are going straight on to the market, like the 53.03m Baraka from Baglietto and Trinity’s 57.9m Mi Sueno.

Overall

We’ll leave the last word to Bertand Vogele: “Overall, we see a market that is moving – experienced brokers, like YPI, serious about their continued success will survive and succeed because they are going the extra mile to give their clients that extra intelligence, support and advice. I think more than ever we need to really promote our industry now – to show potential charterers and buyers that the market today is probably shaping up to become as professional and value-orientated as it has ever been…and that has to be good news. »

Read more on brokerage sales in the Market Intelligence section of Boat International

Tags: Brokerage, Charter

Category: Industry