News and Used Boat Sales – Is a Buyers Market
If you’re in the market for a Bayliner Boat, there is only good news: Prices haven’t been this low in years, and there are plenty to choose from. For sellers, it’s a different story: Buyers are few and far between.
The boat market, like the car and housing markets, has been hit hard – maybe harder – by the weakening economy, as financial worries have risen faster than a storm tide. After all, people need a place to live, and most need a car, but few need a boat, say owners and sellers. Boats are luxury items and expensive to maintain.
Making it tougher, financing has tightened for all but for the most qualified buyers. And some would-be buyers are still wary because of last year’s increase in fuel costs, even if prices have fallen from the stratosphere.
Sellers of new and used boats are doing their best. Prices have dropped substantially, and as the weather warms, they are hoping that more would-be old salts will think longingly of spending time buzzing through the whitecaps.
“I’ve had boats my whole life, and I’ve never seen it like this,” said Mike McLaughlin, who has had no luck selling his 27-foot 1985 Bayliner Boat, which he keeps at Marina Bay in Quincy in the summer months. He blames the recession.
“I’m asking $9,500, but I’ll never get it,” he said. “If a dude doesn’t have the money, he ain’t spending.”
Sales are hurting and the selections are plentiful, she said. “So are cars, so are houses. The only thing that isn’t is jobs.”
And so sellers have been slashing prices.
“It’s a fabulous time to buy a used boat,” said Stewart Roach, president of Norwood Yacht Sales at Marina Bay in Quincy. “We’re seeing tremendous reductions in price.”
Boats that once sold for $300,000 are now selling for as little as $150,000, he said. Sales have picked up a notch recently, perhaps due to the better weather, but “banks have tightened up and the average person is not taking a risk.”
Bayliner Boats – Bayliner Parts thanks; Boat sellers struggle, because people aren’t buying – The Boston Globe
