Market: Who is driving the post-pandemic boom?

Much has been said about the remarkable recovery of the superyacht market from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. To refer to the current state of the market as a mere recovery actually does not do justice to its situation. At the time of writing (mid-September 2021) the superyacht sales market was positively booming and it looked like new yacht sales over 30 metres would exceed the 200 mark for the full year 2021. Similarly, used yacht sales over 30 metres looked set to exceed 300 yachts by a significant margin. The United States market played a significant part in the impressive performance of the used yacht sales market, pushed in particular by that amazing yachting hub, Florida. But how did U.S. used yacht sales compare to the Mediterranean and the rest of the world?  Let’s take a look.

Putting sales on the map  

About two years ago, the Intelligence team behind our SYT iQ intelligence system started to focus on tracking the location for each used yacht sale. Since the start of 2020, we have full coverage. This allows us to examine how many yachts are sold in each country. In the following graph, we plotted used yachts sold over 30 metres in the U.S. against those sold elsewhere. By doing so, we are aiming to see if there are any seasonal differences and if it is really true that sales in the U.S. powered the market’s quick recovery from Covid-19.  

Used yacht sales 30m+ by region and number of yachts Q1 2020 - Q3 2021  

What the graph shows us is that in the first quarter of 2020, when Covid-19 had yet to reach its full impact, used yacht sales were spread quite evenly over the main yachting regions and the rest of the world. Then, in the second quarter, the US market recovered quicker than the Mediterranean market, which only really came back in force in the third quarter of 2020.However, during the European winter, which is Florida’s traditional strong season, sales in the US outpaced those in Southern Europe. In the second quarter of 2021, the run-up to the European Summer season, used yacht sales in the Med came out on top, and as of mid-September 2021, this remained the case. So, if we add up the numbers for the time period covered in the graph, the Mediterranean region actually comes out on top in terms of used yacht sales over 30 metres.

Does the picture change if we shift our focus from numbers of yachts to their value or size? Not really. The ranking remains the same if we look at the total length of used yachts sold over 30 metres, as the average used yacht sold in the US measures about 38.3 metres over the measurement period, compared to 41.4 metres in the Med and 44 metres in the rest of the world. So the differences there are quite small and do not have an impact as the differences in numbers of yachts sold are bigger.  Photo: Ralph Dazert / SuperYacht TimesFinally, if we look at the total value of yachts sold (based on last known asking prices) the result is an even clearer ‘win’ for the Mediterranean region.  

Total value of used yachts sold 30m+ at known asking prices, Q1 2020 - Q3 2021  

• Mediterranean  € 3.1 billion  
• United States  €2.0 billion  
• Rest of the World  €800 million  
  
  

Does this result in any way diminish the achievements of the used yacht market in the United States since early 2020? Absolutely not, as the Mediterranean region is vast, while the overwhelming majority of used superyacht sales in the United States take place in just one state: Florida.  

This article was originally published in Issue 39 of SuperYacht Times newspaper. To read more stories like this one and to never again miss another issue of the SuperYacht Times newspaper, subscribe here.