How well do you know the market? When the market goes up, everyone knows it and accepts it, and prices rise; when it falls, everyone recognizes the need to adjust. But if you’re a buyer or a seller, how good is your information? Right now the market is in what could be a transitional phase, making it a challenge to decipher its signals, no matter what side of the fence you’re on. We recently heard of one buyer shelling out seven figures more than he could have paid, had he known virtually anything about the market. There was also some feel-good information put out recently about a 5.5-percent average increase in asking prices, and while I’m sure that figure is accurate, I’m not sure that it would be true if all the aircraft considered had asking prices advertised. At the very least, you would have to see what jet population drove that figure of 5.5 percent. Was more heavy iron for sale with posted asking prices versus small or medium jets that just had “Make Offer” attached to them instead of an actual number?
