It has been an extraordinary year in the pre-owned business jet sales arena. Offers coming in above what some considered unrealistically high prices represented the norm, with sellers often bailing out of deals for fear they would find no suitable replacement aircraft. An unprecedented period of super-heated activity in the last 12 months was bolstered by lengthy backlogs for new aircraft. Buyers who placed orders for airplanes that won’t be delivered until 2010 or beyond often bought used aircraft for interim lift. Somehow placing an order for a new $40- to $45 million business jet made buying a used one at $20 million or so seem like a deal. As a result, inventory earlier this month was the lowest for any September in the last seven years.
So far the market has shown no signs of slowing down. Inventory levels are about where they began the year, which essentially can be defined as a normal cycle, with the typical spring reduction of inventory followed by the corresponding slow summer build up and now entering historically one of the most active times of the year.
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