I've been actively searching for a boat for about 2 1/2 years. Last year I constrained myself due to the pandemic and wasn't willing to fly or stay in hotels, which limited me to boats I could get to in a day trip. I missed out on some that sounded good, but then, everything sounds good and looks good in internet photos - until you see it in person. I've seen about 30 boats, all but 2 of which were not in the condition they were represented to be in (and in hindsight, I should have bought one of the 2 that were in genuinely good condition, but I underestimated how fast they would sell).
The excess of demand over supply is clearly at work right now in the boat market. Prices are up, inventory is down, and demand is high. Boats in decent condition sell fast. It's frustrating.
Many brokers I've interacted with are letting it go to their heads. A boat came on the market a couple of months ago that I was seriously interested in. I called as soon as I saw it appear on yachtworld (which I check twice a day). The broker acknowledged I was the first one to call about it.
I wanted to see it ASAP. The broker was reticent, complaining that it would take him a whole day to get to the boat and back, required a drive plus a ferry ride, etc. etc. etc. He was planning to move the boat to his brokerage office to let him show it more easily. I reiterated my willingness to happily travel to where it was (the owner's home), but the broker wasn't interested. He promised he would let me know when it was expected to be at his dock.
A week later I still hadn't heard from him, so I called him. He said, 'we have 5 cash offers on the boat, 2 are over asking, do you want to get in on the bidding'? Under those conditions, no, I wasn't.
Another boat I liked popped up a couple of weeks ago. Again the broker (a different one) said I was the first to call. I wanted to see it ASAP. He got back to me later in the day and said there were two other full price offers coming in. I immediately sent in a full price offer contingent on my seeing the boat (and survey and sea trial). When I saw it two days later, I found problems I wasn't expecting. Not for me.
Another boat came on the market beginning of this week. Again I was the first one to call, and asked for a showing ASAP. By the end of the day the broker called me and told me there were already 2 full price offers, and the seller had raised the price by $25k - above what it was listed at just that morning.
Talked with a broker today about a boat that might be coming on the market. The buyer paid $200k for it 4 years ago, and plans to list it for $399k.
One broker I like and respect told me that some brokers are putting in full price or above asking offers on multiple boats at the same time, just to give their clients an opportunity to see them.
It's an absolutely insane time. As others have said, this is a bubble, and all bubbles eventually pop. The only question is, when?
Many have been expecting and waiting for the stock market bubble to pop for several years now. Time and time again 'experts' have called it over-valued and a correction overdue. Yet it still continues to soar and defy the laws of economics, gravity, and common sense.
I'm debating waiting it out vs. just putting in an order for a new boat (that would be smaller and more expensive that I'd like, and will take a year and a half to build). The bubble could pop at any time, driven by many potential forces such as the world finally acknowledging that the pandemic is not going away any time soon. But then again, it could be like the stock market, and 3 years from now, there could be another thread here about how the used boat market is insane.
It's all enough to make me seriously think about retiring from boating a little earlier than I'd expected.