The pre-owned business jet market is showing signs of malaise in 2016, with the number of transactions slowing overall, prices dipping and inventories increasing, according to recent data from industry analyst Amstast. The turboprop market, meanwhile, appears only marginally better, with relatively flat transactions, the analyst added.
Amstat (Booth 3939) released its latest look at the trends in its Business Aircraft Resale Market Update Report, one of a number of market analysis services the company provides. Along with the release of the report, the company has begun demonstrating a new StatPak module and Aircraft Valuation Tool.
According to Amstat, the percentage of business jets that have turned over declined from 7.4 percent of the fleet in the first three quarters of 2015 to 7.1 percent in the same period this year. Heavy jet transactions were up from 5.5 percent in the first three quarters of 2016 to 5.9 percent this year. Medium jet transactions, however, dropped from 8.2 percent in the first nine months of 2015 to 7.1 percent this year. Similar to turboprop transactions, retail activity for small jets was relatively flat during the period.
Inventories for all business jet segments climbed in the first nine months, with more of the available aircraft representing newer jets. According to the Amstat report, 10.8 percent of the heavy jet fleet is available for sale, compared with 10.4 percent at the beginning of the year. Over the past 24 months, the available inventory of newer heavy jets has climbed from 8 percent to 10 percent. Available inventory for medium jets also is up by 0.4 percent since the beginning of the year, with more newer models available. At 11.8 percent, the light jet inventory also is up from the beginning of this year, but the same as this time last year.
Average asking price, meanwhile, is also down by 6.6 percent for heavy jets, to $13.9 million, and 7.8 percent for medium jets, to $3.4 million. Light jet prices, however, have climbed 6.7 percent, to an average of $1.7 million.
In addition to reporting its latest market update, Amstat is demonstrating its new StatPak online service at NBAA 2016 that provides a graphical and analytical view of current and historical trends in the global business jet, turboprop and turbine helicopter markets. The StatPak module is integrated into Amstat’s Premier service, and includes historical aircraft availability data, such as numbers for sale and average asking prices by month since 1990. The module also includes side-by-side trend comparisons between multiple aircraft markets and table analysis to break down markets by criteria such as aircraft make and model, geographic region and aircraft age.
Amstat also has teamed with Van Buren Advisors and General Aviation Services on an aircraft valuation tool that is being demonstrated during NBAA. “Even in good years there is a relatively small number of retail business aircraft transactions compared to other capital asset markets. This fact, combined with the lack of transparency in these transactions, make it a challenge to gather meaningful quantities of aircraft sold prices,” said Amstat general manager Andrew Young. “After two years of collaborative effort using quantitative analytics, market expertise and decades of historical market data, the Amstat aircraft valuation tool is a response to these challenges.”