Used Boat Sales Top 1 Million in 2020

According to a recently released document from the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), the 2020 sale of pre-owned boats in the U.S. exceeded 1 million units for the first time since 2006. Overall, about 1,376,000 new and used boats were sold: 76% of them were pre-owned and 24% were new. 

Both new and used boats had an 8% increase in sales compared to 2019, according to NMMA figures.  New boat sales, while up 35% from their low in 2011, have yet to claw back to their 2004 levels in terms of units.  On the other hand, used boat sales never dropped more than 10% from the 2004 baseline and were up more than 4% last year.

By category, the largest number of used boat sales were among outboard-powered boats with more than 600,000 used boats sold, followed by PWCs at about 150,000 and sterndrive units at over 165,000.  Nearly 30,000 wakeboats changed hands, followed by inboard cruisers, at just under 25,000.

In terms of total sales for all used boats in 2020, the NMMA estimates that it is nearly a $12 billion market. Outboard-powered used boats add to slightly over $5 billion in sales and inboard cruisers combined with sterndrive boats equal about the same amount.  

According to the report, the average price of used outboard-powered boats rose 10%, the highest of any of the seven categories, followed by jet boats at about 8.5%. The average age of all used boats sold for all categories was 21 years old. Obviously, this means that there are a lot of very old boats still changing hands in large numbers, which pulls the average price paid down.

The shocker for most people is the relatively few used boats that change hands 31’ (9.44 m) and over: 38,000, or just 3.6% of the whole.  Just as surprising is the number of pre-owned yachts 50’ (15.24 m) and over at just 3,800. This compares to the number of 31’ used sailboats sold at 6,200 and those 50’+ at 250.