The pre-owned market this year has been buoyed somewhat by a continuing flurry of international buying activity coupled with new aircraft backlogs, which by all accounts are full for years to come. That doesn’t mean this segment is immune to cyclical price corrections, such as the one it is experiencing now. Any aircraft will sell.
The question is, at what price? Once prices reach levels that become attractive, opportunistic buyers will appear, and while there is a modest flow of deals at present, clearly the growing inventory among most model types suggests they haven’t hit bottom.
This is one of the more interesting sales environments to bear witness to. On the one hand we have seen some fairly desperate sellers affected by beaten-down business sectors. On the other, fairly desperate buyers in counter-cyclical sectors seem to be minting cash. Consequently, many sellers this year have not had to take the major financial hit they may have otherwise experienced.
