According to Statistical Surveys Inc., a leading provider of market data for marine industries, the number of boat sales nationwide surged in August, 2016. The main powerboat segments rose 12.5% to 10,292 boat sales for the year while the industry-wide increase was 11.8% to 17,411 boat sales for the year in 25 states that represent about 62% of the U.S. market.
Aluminum fishing boats rose by a sharp 19.5% for the month and led the way for the upward charge. These boat sales were largely in Florida, Texas, California, and South Carolina. Washington made it onto the top ten list of boat-selling states as well.
The double-digit growth is a great sign for the recovering marine industry and yacht brokers should pop the champagne. The strong August showing pushes number of sales gains for the year to 5.2% in the main segments and 4.9% industry-wide. Intuition suggests that sales will likely slow again across much of the country due to the arrival of fall and winter, but we’ll let the numbers do the talking. For now, it’s great to see growth.
