Americans panic-bought boats, jet skis, campers, UTVs, ATVs, and anything with a motor that could be ridden in the great outdoors during Covid. Lakes and oceans were flooded with shiny new pontoon boats and +$100k wakeboarding boats. Much of the boat panic-buying was seen in 2020-21, when interest rates were at rock bottom. Now, the high-rate environment has frozen the industry as new and used boat sales are expected to plunge to a decade-low this year.
Bloomberg cites new data from the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NNMA), the leading trade association representing boat, marine engine, and accessory manufacturers, which states that 1.4 million new and used boats were sold in 2021, up 16% from 2019. This followed several years of low single-digit growth.
Fast forward to 2023, NNMA expects the industry will only sell 269,000 new powerboats and about 900,000 used ones, the lowest dating back to 2011. The vicious slowdown in demand is a function of an interest rate shock produced by the Fed.
Michael Prince Jr., who sells pontoon and fishing boats in Atlanta, expects the industry to normalize after two years of a buying frenzy.
“I don’t think interest rates have…
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