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NEWS
NSW boat sales slump
Industry association forecasts sub-10,000 new boat registrations, the lowest in more than a decadeAccording to the latest data for new boat registrations in NSW, the industry is facing its worst year in more than a decade. The annual trend of 12,000 to about 15,000 new boat registrations in better years is forecast to slump below 10,000 registrations of new boats this year.
The downward trend started in 2011 when new-boat registrations fell from the 12,000 or so foundation mark to 11,772 boats, amounting to a 7.7 per cent fall year on year. Then last calendar year, new boat registrations fell to 10,613, down a further 9.8 per cent YOY.
Looking at the latest data from NSW Transport, Roads and Maritime Services there were just 7272 new boats registered in NSW by the end of October. This is a 5.9 per cent fall YOY compared with the corresponding time the previous year and less than half the number of new boats register in NSW in the 2004 (15,837) and 2005 (15,382) calendar years.
If you add the same number of boats registered in November and December last year to the 7272 current new-boat registrations in NSW this year, the total regos in the 2013 calendar year will fall below 10,000 boats for the first time in more than a decade. The Boating Industry Association of NSW forecasts new-boat registrations will number about 9900 boats.
In respect of the size of boats, the spread seems to be pretty consistent, meaning the drop in new-boat registrations (and sales) is across the board. In the first 10 months of the year, boats < 6m account for 81.6 per cent of new registrations, 6m-12m were running at 15.7 per cent, 12m-20m numbered 2.5 per cent and above 20 metres contributed 0.2 per cent to registrations.
If there is something to take from the breakdown it’s that new boat sales in the 12m-20m category have fallen from 3.2 per cent representation in 2008, just five years ago, to 2.5 per cent to date this year. This is a 21.8 per cent fall in that sector and is reflective of several things: a dearth of marina berths, an excess of second-hand inventory and a lack of buyers in the small-business-owner and professional demographics.
Of course, 2013 has also been a year of uncertainty, a Federal election and profound restructure in some industries. The BIA sights waning consumer sentiment as the reason behind slow new boat registrations this year.
The attendance figures for the Sydney International Boat Show that the BIA organises mirror those of new-boat registrations stats, falling from highs in 2004 of 93,501 visitors and in 2005 of 89,451 to 58,901 this year.
The new boat registration figures don’t account for yachts, kayak and second-hand boat sales, which have been strong in some areas, such as that 12m-20m category. But they most definitely reflect a soft pleasure-boating market Australia-wide this calendar year.
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Written byDavid Lockwood
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