Used airplane prices on the rise?

jimwomble

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jimw
I am talking about prices on the low end of the price spectrum. Looking at Barnstormers and Trade-A-Plane on a daily basis looks like everything has become overpriced in the last few month. There is also a lot of junk for sale - run out engines, out of annual, and projects. My guess is maybe with the Airlines hiring people are buying planes to build up hours. Plus it is now easier to get a physical or substitute and of course the economy is expanding? Any thoughts.
 
BasicMed is drawing a lot of folks off the couch and back into the air.
 
Prices have been on the rise for a while now, some airframes moreso than others. If you follow the PA-18 and Cessna 180/185 market at all, they've taken a sharp rise over the last 6-12 months. Everything else has too, but not as dramatically.

I'm sure Basic Med has helped encourage the rise in prices, but I don't think that tells the whole story. From what I've seen, the aviation industry as a whole is pretty indicative of how the economy is doing as a whole and it seems like everything is in an upswing at the moment. Wait a few years and it will likely drop again.
 
The economy is doing well, so prices go up, economy tanks so do prices. Works on boats as well as airplanes, actually it applies to almost everything!
 
Usually you can get a better price for a plane if the annual is not overdue. If has expired either the owner can't afford a new annual or he knows something about the plane he does not want to disclose.
 
Prices on well kept airplanes,usually go up with the economy. It’s now more important than ever to get a good pre purchase inspection,to weed out the abused airplanes.
 
Usually you can get a better price for a plane if the annual is not overdue. If has expired either the owner can't afford a new annual or he knows something about the plane he does not want to disclose.

Kinda silly, but ok.

There are times I'll be out of the country and I'll let me annual lapse only to get her back in annual when I get back home, truth of the matter is the plane doesn't know it's out of annual.

In my case, it's not a repairs needed thing, and it's not a cant afford it thing, it's a I can't fly the damn thing from thousands of miles away and don't want to spend money for zero return thing.

Also I've seen in annual planes that I'm not too hot about, airworthy is really only the start of valuing a plane. I'm more concerned with times and on sight condition than if the annual is in date, a proper prebuy should be more in depth than most annuals and should easily cover everything needed to make the plane in annual again. That said if I was selling a plane I'd make sure it was in annual, if nothing but for the "test drive" phase, and because lower time pilots get all scared of "out of annual", but mainly for the test drive thing.
 
I'll fly it for you!

But yeah I haven't found annual to have much impact on price at all. Atleast for skywagons.

Annual vs. no annual is probably about the farthest thing down the list of concerns in that market. At least in my opinion.

I know you’re shopping, you might consider a Canadian plane and doing an import. There are some deals to be had doing that, if you start with the right plane.
 
A lot of people think there stuff is worth more than it is. See how many airplanes are just rotting away, and if you ever ask the owner if they want to sell, they have some insane number in their head that they think it's worth so much more. Or I have found that sometimes it is family members of an owner that have no clue in the value of planes and think a 152 is worth the price of a nice 182.
 
Prices have been creeping up. That will probably excite some of the hangar and tie down queens in disrepair. I bought mid 2017 with zero personal experience. Good mentors, prebuy inspections and a very healthy dose of doubt made it a good purchase. Saying “no” to two planes I had emotional and small financial ties kept me out of the weeds. I guess my plane could give me a profit; then I would have to buy in an expensive market too... That healthy doubt includes me not expecting a profit once/if it is time to sell.
 
Prices have been on the rise for a while now, some airframes moreso than others. If you follow the PA-18 and Cessna 180/185 market at all, they've taken a sharp rise over the last 6-12 months. Everything else has too, but not as dramatically.

I'm sure Basic Med has helped encourage the rise in prices, but I don't think that tells the whole story. From what I've seen, the aviation industry as a whole is pretty indicative of how the economy is doing as a whole and it seems like everything is in an upswing at the moment. Wait a few years and it will likely drop again.

Skywagons and supercubs have always been expensive, or at least for as long as I can remember.
 
Skywagons and supercubs have always been expensive, or at least for as long as I can remember.

Expensive yes, but there has been a a significant increase in the asking prices. What you used to be able to get 6 months to a year ago for say $75k it is taking probably $25k more right now. Those two markets seem to have outpaced the rest of the rising prices from what I’ve seen shopping them for the last couple of years.

The interesting thing is that with the 180/185 market going out of sight I would think the 170 market would be increasing too, having people fall back to buying the 170B in lieu of the 180 they are priced out of. The 170 market seems to be remaining fairly static pricing wise from what I’ve observed, at least so far.
 
Expensive yes, but there has been a a significant increase in the asking prices. What you used to be able to get 6 months to a year ago for say $75k it is taking probably $25k more right now. Those two markets seem to have outpaced the rest of the rising prices from what I’ve seen shopping them for the last couple of years.

The interesting thing is that with the 180/185 market going out of sight I would think the 170 market would be increasing too, having people fall back to buying the 170B in lieu of the 180 they are priced out of. The 170 market seems to be remaining fairly static pricing wise from what I’ve observed, at least so far.


The 170 is a nice plane for sure, but it's a long ways out from a skywagon.

Did a little looking, yeah the prices do seem to have gone up a little, not sure it's a huge jump, but noteworthy for sure.
 
I wonder what the actual selling prices are, vs. the asking price. I've seen some PA28-140's that are not very well equipped. (single nav/com, usually kx170, or similar), with so so paint, dated interior, and high time engines (~1700-1900 hrs) with asking prices in the $30k+ range.
 
Prices have seemed to creep up a bit. I wonder if it is just wishful thinking with basic med. I see the same planes for months sometimes longer. They go off for awhile and come back on. Not sure they are actually selling.
 
Times are good now and hope is that it will continue, last year we could not draw flies at the local flight school, this year booked solid. I was one of those who was pessimistic about the future of GA but now we are on a roll. We are coming off a period of time that aircraft sat on the ramps unused for years, those aircraft are now for sale. If their was ever a time to be careful of what you buy it's now, watch out.
 
We are coming off a period of time that aircraft sat on the ramps unused for years, those aircraft are now for sale. If their was ever a time to be careful of what you buy it's now, watch out.
My rule of thumb has been a plane that was out of annual for an extended period and just recently annualed, or a plane that hasn't racked up many hours in logs the past few years is immediately out of consideration.

Sure it can be medical related or a myriad of other legitimate reasons, but I just personally don't trust one that has sat for a long time and will take my money elsewhere.
 
My rule of thumb has been a plane that was out of annual for an extended period and just recently annualed, or a plane that hasn't racked up many hours in logs the past few years is immediately out of consideration.

Sure it can be medical related or a myriad of other legitimate reasons, but I just personally don't trust one that has sat for a long time and will take my money elsewhere.

Kinda like reading tea leaves
 
I think we are going to be seeing an increase in inflation in general, not just airplane prices.
 
an increase in interest rates would be welcome by yours truly.
 
Asking prices are definitely on the rise, but I don’t know about sales prices. Very different things.
 
As someone who also bought mid 2017, my initial thought was to stick with this plane for a few years and then consider upgrading to something with a turbo and known ice. After looking at maintenance and operating costs I'm leaning towards keeping the economical plane, adding some fancy new avionics(G5, Garmin Autopilot instead of the King) and just being happy I can afford a plane.
 
I also purchased in 2017, October, to be precise after looking for over a year. I feel that I did ok but a year prior, I had a lot more inventory to pick from. I went with a compromise aircraft because I felt the market becoming tighter and what I really wanted was seemingly unavailable. But it does depend on the model. I have a friend with a fairly nice Arrow IV turbo who is having a hard time just to get someone to even look at it. He is already taking a $30K hit on what he paid for it ten years ago. What I find interesting is that Archers II are asking very close to or even more than for a more capable Arrow. Even with the improved economy, I sense people do not have a lot of disposable income.
 
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