Carver Owners Forum

Is it my imagination or has the asked for pricing on used boats gone up a fair bit ? Almost looks like somewhere around 20k cad.

Not your imagination. My current boat purchased in 2015. Similar boats are on the market for $10K to $15K more than I paid in 2015!

When we bought our 355 the surveyor said the value of a boat in this size range and condition would go up significantly over the next several years. I laughed and said, since when is a boat a good investment. He said they aren't building them anymore, you'll see. Darned if he wasn't correct.

That is great news. An appreciating boat. Who could ask for more.

Yes, I've noticed the increase also. Great for us!!!!!!

Most companies that produce boats in the cruiser range have all gone belly up. Why? Their biggest competitor was and still is the used boat market which is flourishing. Take my boat as an example, I paid 1/3 of the price it went for when new. Have you looked at large Carvers today and the price? Only accessible if you are a sports star or rock star. Not saying you will make money when you sell but it may cover a bit of the yearly expenditures.

Back in the mid eighties it was boat mayhem, a boat was an investment as you made money when you sold it. Then again there were so many manufacturers it was dizzying and they could barely keep up with the demand. That all ended abruptly and things went downhill from there. I think the last big splurge was 1989.

I can remember many of the old names including some not very old at all.

Doral
Thundercraft
Maxxum
Bayliner (only small boats today)
Searay
Fiberform
Tollycraft
Grew
Peterborough
Pacemaker
Owens
Uniflight
Glasstron
Meridian
Glasstron
Stingray
Cadorette
Albin
Sunrunner

The Canadian market has seen an increase in used boat prices for sure. There are a number of reasons for this IMHO.

The biggest impact was the value of the Canadian dollar in comparison to our neighbours to the south. A surge of US buyers have come to Canada to purchase our fresh water boats, with a strong dollar, which has depleted the Canadian used boat inventory. As a result, there are just not a lot of good clean boats for sale here in Canada, especially the big stuff. All you have to do is ask someone who is in the market to purchase a used boat here, or the people in the boat sales industry. Have you noticed that a lot of brokers in Canada advertise in US dollars on their web sites.

Another issue that had an impact, was when Justin Truedumb put the 10% tariff on any boats coming to Canada from the US. That has since been lifted, however, the impact was that a Canadian purchaser was deterred to go stateside to purchase a boat. This is also due to the higher dollar in the US as a Canadian will have to pay 35 cents on the dollar, plus HST of 13%.

The fact that a number of boat manufacturers have gone under or have stopped making larger boats, like Sea Ray which no longer manufactures boats over 40 feet for example, has forced buyers to look in the used boat market. This is also due to the fact that there is great value in a used boat over new. This has had an impact on boat pricing in Canada and the US.

I am sure there are many other factors, but the end result is a depleted used boat availability in Canada which has intern raised used boat prices here, for sure. Nice time to sell a boat and if you are buying, not so much. I have been advised that the used boat prices have increased by as much as 20-25% depending on the condition of the boat.

Now let's see what Justin Truedumb's luxury tax on boats and vehicles over $100,000 does to the market.

Those are my thoughts. Happy shopping, I know we all are shopping all the time, thats just what we do. The great North American past time.

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends.

Greg

Hooray for us! Although there is a difference in "asking" and "selling". I agree there are fewer nice, clean vessels out there. Having said that, there are still a lot of recovery hurricane boats on the market. Unfortunately, that comes into play if a seller of a clean boat is motivated by something to complete a transaction. I guess it really comes down to each transaction and the motivations behind the parties. Still, it is good to know that the market is rebounding a bit. Couple of years ago, it was totally a buyers market in our area, with pontoon boats being the most desirable to the first time buyers. I do see a lot less Carver Mariners out there though. er

Interesting discussion. I wonder though if this bubble we see now may be driven by brokers pushing the pricing up, after all when I have sold any big boats, I have always looked for broker feedback on pricing and what they actually sell for.Bench mark seems to be Yacht world.
In any case this could bode well for next spring up here.

Bud37, time will tell. I stay in touch with the broker I use and he will tell a potential buyer what his view is of the actual value. However, the sellers are asking for bigger money as people are very aware of boat values due to the internet, Yacht World. I have always been told to do an averaging on boat pricing on Yacht World to get a some what accurate listing price. At the end of the day a boat is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it depending on the condition of the boat.

But, you are right, some brokers in Canada are advertising for big dollars and in US funds as well, as they are trying to attract the US buyer who can pay more up here because of their strong dollar.

It is a plus to be able to buy a boat and years later sell for what you paid for it. To get more is not the norm, unless you beat the seller up when you bought it.

As for next spring, I hope it comes earlier than spring of 2019 did. Didn't see good temps till late June.