Pre-owned Biz Aircraft Market Slows in First Quarter

The pre-owned business-aircraft market slowed in the first quarter as the number of transactions dropped year-over-year and inventories, while still below that of a year ago, crept up, according to business aviation market analysts JetNet and Amstat.

Used business jet transactions fell 13.5 percent in the first three months versus a year ago, JetNet reported. But at the same time, prices experienced one of the largest increases that JetNet has recorded, rising 20.5 percent. In the first three months, 488 business jet transactions were recorded and the average price firmed to $4.744 million. Business turboprop sales dropped 5.7 percent, while average asking price jumped 32.1 percent, to $1.464 million.

Meanwhile, Amstat reported that, as a percentage of the fleet, the number of transactions slid to 2.2 percent in the first quarter, down from 3 percent last quarter and 2.3 percent last year. This drop “demonstrated greater volatility than at any other time in the previous five years." Similarly, turboprop transactions as a percentage of the fleet dropped from 1.9 percent in the first quarter a year ago to 1.7 in the most recent quarter. Pre-owned business jet inventory, at 10.9 percent of the fleet, climbed slightly in the quarter from 10.7 percent at the end of the fourth quarter. However, inventory is still down from 11.7 percent a year ago, according to Amstat.