Berthon Spain Review Yacht Sales | 2024

By Simon Turner & Nathalie Miquel-Elcano

Overall, 2023 was not as glorious as previous years from a Sales perspective, which was as expected after the Covid-19 boom. The market in general has shifted and it is now a buyer’s market, and brokerage prices are now realigning to pre-Covid levels.

The first half of the year and early summer were unusually quiet for sailing yacht sales, with a low frequency both of enquiries and of client visits on board. This picked up in the summer with many clients visiting in the July to October period, but few sales resulting from this increased activity. Clients came, visited, showed interest but then pulled back for various reasons, or didn’t commit. Buyers seemed to be in no hurry to make decisions and most chose to wait.

Despite a difficult market, Simon closed some good sales throughout the year, including the 80-foot ketch FRUITION in Valencia and 100 foot Swan VIRAGO in on the East Coast of the USA. Locally in Palma, he sold the Najad 505 SIGAL. She will be sailing around the world with her new Spanish owners. A Baltic 50 was also sold to new Canadian owners who will enjoy her in the Mediterranean for a while before shipping her home.

The market has remained slow for new listings, and not as many sailing yachts as expected have come to the market in the Mediterranean area in the 50 to 100 foot range.

On new motor yacht sales, the summer was difficult as well with many clients delaying making a decision to order, but the market picked up at the end of the year and there was strong interest for new motor. The motorboat market seems relatively buoyant at the high quality, premium end of the market as we move into 2024.

The prices of new yachts have gone up because of energy, labour and material costs, as well as international supply chain issues. Stock levels are rising quickly and this makes the brokerage market look attractive in comparison. Yet with falling or stagnating house prices in some markets plus business issues, it may not be the time clients choose to ‘cash out’ to buy a yacht and go sailing.

World events are challenging, with Israel, Gaza, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Syria, Red Sea area, and threats from the China / Taiwan area, all of which encourage potential yacht buyers to think hard before making a purchase. Climate change issues, with flooding and droughts in other areas are disturbing trade (in case of Panama and Suez canals) resulting in further increased costs, also do not help. However, we never underestimate the versatility of our clients and their wish to dive into yacht ownership and experience all that it offers, whatever the macro political and economic weather.

The first quarter of 2024 may continue to be slow on sales of sailing yachts in the 50 to 100 foot range, but with adjusted pricing, we expect that buyers will come forward by late spring and summer. There should also be some good new listings coming to the market, specifically from clients who bought in between 2020 and 2022 and who are not long-term yacht owners. This is a trend that we are already seeing to some extent.

On motor yachts, we are expecting that interest will increase as the wonderful Mallorca weather improves.

The end of 2023 brought a big change for the sales team as we moved into a new office at the end of December. Our new offices are not far from where we were before – in fact in the next-door building. However, we now enjoy one of the best views in all of Palma from our eighth floor windows overlooking Club de Mar. The entire bay of Palma lays in front of us, with the city and the cathedral laid out against the backdrop of the Tramuntana mountain range, and spectacular vistas of the coastline extending all the way out to the island of Cabrera on clear days.

The office itself is bright and modern, with an open plan layout and a separate meeting room where clients can enjoy a coffee with a view while discussing yachts. A bigger office means that we have room to expand the business, and we look forward to welcoming new faces to our team and to sharing our room with a view.

2024 will be an exciting year in Palma as the new Club de Mar should be completed and will open its doors in the first months of 2025. Work on the docks is now almost finished and the marina buildings are out of the ground. It will be interesting to watch the last stages of this ambitious project unfold beneath our windows.

Extensive work is still ongoing on the Paseo Maritimo, with ever changing disruptions to traffic and parking right along the waterfront. With over a year of work behind us and a lot more still to be completed, we have become accustomed to the surrounding chaos and are looking forward to seeing the finished Paseo Maritimo, whenever that may be!

The next event on the Mallorca calendar is the Palma International Boat Show at the end of April, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The exact list of yachts that we will be presenting at the Boat Show is yet to be finalised. Berthon brokers from other Berthon offices are already preparing their visits to this milestone event of the Mediterranean season. In the Superyacht Village, Berthon will be presenting Jongert 2700 VIVID and 82 Hoek SWEET EMOTION.

2024 will be sure to bring a lot of excitement and yacht traffic to Spain and the Balearic area, with the America’s Cup taking place in Barcelona over the summer and autumn. From our new lookout, we can’t wait to see all those yachts coming and going, regattas taking place in the bay, and the seasons changing over Palma and our beautiful island of Mallorca.

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