More boats sold, and it still takes longer
The second quarter figures for 2026 show a market that is moving. Just slowly: in Europe a boat sits on the market for 263 days on average before it sells.
Market NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH
The market review by Boats Group, published as a supplement to the industry statistics of the world federation ICOMIA, counts sales actually completed through the large boat listing sites. It is therefore a record of transactions rather than of listings. Worldwide around 15,300 boats changed hands in the second quarter of 2026, a good 5 percent more than in the same quarter last year, for some 3.0 billion dollars in total.
The average price fell, from around 200,000 to about 193,000 dollars. The drop was sharpest on new boats, at just under 7 percent. Used boats almost held their price, and they make up the large majority: for every new boat sold there are about six used ones.
For Europe and the world outside North America the review reports 2,516 boats sold, just under 7 percent more than a year earlier, at an average price of around 352,000 dollars. The most striking figure sits next to it. Time from listing to sale rose to 263 days, 19 days longer than the year before. The review itself notes that case numbers outside North America are smaller and the percentages therefore more volatile.
Anyone selling in Europe this season should plan for that number rather than hope against it. Two listing seasons is now a realistic assumption for a boat priced at the market. A boat priced above it can sit considerably longer.
What this means for owners
Something very practical follows from those 263 days. A boat that is up for sale sits almost nine months, is rarely moved and often checked less than a boat in use. That is exactly when quiet damage happens: chafed lines, a blocked bilge pump, frost damage in unheated winter storage. The months on the market therefore deserve the same attention as a season afloat, right up to the day title passes.
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Where this comes from
The text above is our own. The sources listed supplied the facts and the figures, not the wording.