Due to excessive inventory Century Boat Company has shutdown production at its fiberglass boat manufacturing facility in Panama City, Fla. for the final for 2 months of 2008. Century Boat vice president and general manager Dean Burnett stated the reason for the shutdown was to, relieve dealer inventory pressure for the remainder of the calendar year and plan for the future success of this company in 2009 and beyond.”

You’ve probably noticed that there seems to be some pretty good deals on boats these days.  As the economy waits to rebound, there have been several factors that have contributed to this “buyer’s market”.  The over estimated demand by manufacturers for new boats and a substantial sell-off in the private party marketplace have significantly reduced pricing.  In addition, marine finance programs are still surprisingly attractive. Interest rates have remained low and there are programs available for many credit profiles.

According to the latest figures from Info-Link’s Bellweather Report new powerboat sales in June dropped nearly 20 percent from the June of 2007.  This continues the dramatic drop in new powerboat sales from the market’s peak in March of 2004.

What is bad news for dealers spells opportunity for boat buyers. As dealer inventories continue to expand the opportunity for boat buyers to negotiate great deals increases. The secondary market for used boats is also a great buyers market at the moment since such great deals can be found on new boats the prices for used boats are dropping in order compete.