In the course of my searching, I got to see a wide spectrum of boats and
price ranges as our knowledge and tastes/preferences/budget migrated from
where we started. In the model we've finally selected (putting aside the
several alternatives which don't do as well for us), there were 23 sales
which YachtWorld brokers saw fit to report to the soldboat part of that
site. (The site is flawed/less than perfect in that it relies on brokers to
enter the sold info. Many times it doesn't get entered - I know of a
specific sale in that regard - or the info is incorrect. But it's a great
start by comparison to SWAGs!)

In 2003, the sales were equal to 02/01 *combined*. The prices listed, and
achieved, in 02 were markedly higher than the two years around it or, for
that matter, in 00 and earlier (my search was 1-98 to 2-04 sales; some
*listings* were quite a bit before that).

So, from that I get that there was a price bubble in 02, and a great deal
more momentum in 03 and current as to sales. Certainly, I've seen much more
activity, and the prices, whether achieved or not remaining to be seen,
going up.

For what it's worth, the list to sale ratio has held very closely
throughout the entire period, with an overall average of .864, and the early
years at .836, 2001 high at .883 and 03 being .874.

2001 and earlier had *very* short sales cycles (9 and 2.3 months,
respectively), and 02 at 14 and 03 at 18 months, respectively. So, some of
the boats which had been for sale for a *very* long time, mixed with some
very short sales cycles, contributed to the high average sales time in the
last couple of years.

It took a bit of doing to put this into a spreadsheet which could be
massaged/sorted for various factors, but the soldboats site gives the
listing and sales months, as well as the broker. I found that useful, in
that I called the brokers where the info seemed unlikely (for example, the
same list and sale price is virtually unheard of in the real world), and
after that, did my sorting.

For those in the hunt for a boat, this might be a useful tool, because,
unless you've been looking at a particular type of boat for years, likely
you won't have the same feel you can get from this sort of data. In the
boat we're currently in the survey/negotiation process on, for example, I
know it's in the top 15th percentile of all the boats listed, and the price
we've started at (pre-survey adjustments) is about the same. That makes me
feel I'm entitled to be pickier :{)) than might otherwise be the case...

FWIW...

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin