July's Monthly Report
July was a much better month than June and followed many historical trends…
It is always good to see the number of vessels that have reduced their asking prices falling, but this July 2015’s level is very much in line with 2014 and 2013.
One would expect this number to remain flat to down until the end of August, when holidays are concluded and the focus turns to the September boat shows in Cannes and Monaco.
This has helped the numbers on the total market that have been reduced at some point and we have seen a slight fall month on month, which is not unexpected, particularly when combined with a better month of sales…
The good news is that sales are up by 10% on last month.
There is still a fair amount of brokerage activity taking place, although news-flow has died down over the past week.
Looking in closer detail, 11% of the vessels sold had seen a price reduction over the past quarter, but 40% had seen a reduction in the last 6 months.
Not a single sailing vessel was sold in July, but the USA has increased its activity, accounting for just less than 50% of all July’s completions.
July’s sales numbers have helped boost the quarter’s overall performance with a total of 105 vessels sold, up on 91 vessels in 2013 but 7% down on last year’s 114 vessels sold over the same period.
I would expect August to be flat to down in sales completed.
Looking at the newcomers to the market , July 2015 did not disappoint historical trends and has had an increase:
It is clear to see that the 20-30m segment has pushed these numbers up, but overall , one should expect to see more newcomers as we move into the autumn.
Looking in closer detail again, only 5 of these were sailing vessels and the majority was under 30m and over 10 years old. Sailing vessels are still around 15% of the total vessels on the market.
Applying my usual parameters to the Mediterranean charter market, there are a total of 216 motor vessels between 30-45m available in the West Med and as things stand today, only 2% have nothing booked from now to mid-September, including owner’s use.
I am happy to report that none of these are Bluewater-managed vessels!
The number was 4% at the end of June and clearly shows that there is now almost zero supply in the charter market.
Even though charter requirements in the Balearics have been eased, there is still not an abundance of vessels at anchor in the bay of Palma, showing that those vessels that are legal for commercial activity are still enjoying a less competitive marketplace. The big test whether Spain is attracting more vessels will be to see what happens in 2016.
As always, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this and please do not hesitate to let me know if you need any assistance or advice into any facet of yachting.
I wish you a very enjoyable August !
With kindest regards,
Jim
