The Used-Boat Market Is Carrying the Business Right Now

If you want to know where the energy is in the boat business this fall, skip the new-boat showroom and walk the brokerage dock.

What the dealer surveys show

In its June 2026 Pulse Report coverage, Soundings Trade Only reported that 48 percent of dealers surveyed by Baird Research and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas saw used-boat retail growth, against 26 percent reporting declines. Soundings Trade Only also reported in June 2026 that 44 percent of dealers called their used inventory too low against 26 percent who called it too high, which means the constraint on the used business is supply, not demand. Even in its August 2026 Pulse coverage, which described used retail cooling from recent months, Soundings Trade Only reported 34 percent of dealers still calling used inventory too low against 24 percent too high.

The new-boat side is the mirror image. Soundings Trade Only, reporting NMMA's Monthly Recreational Boating Industry Data Summary in March 2025, put new powerboat retail at 231,576 units for 2024, down 9.1 percent from the year before.

The big dealers' books agree

The public companies tell the same story from their earnings. Soundings Trade Only reported on November 14, 2025 that MarineMax posted fiscal fourth quarter revenue of 552.2 million dollars with same-store sales up 2.3 percent, and its coverage of OneWater Marine's fourth quarter results showed revenue of 460.1 million dollars, up 21.8 percent from the year-ago quarter. When new units are soft, used boats and service are what move the needle.

What it means if you own a boat

If you have thought about selling, this is the market the surveys describe: dealers short on used inventory and buyers active on the pre-owned side. A clean, documented boat with service records is exactly what that market is hungry for. If you are buying used, the same strength cuts the other way, because well-kept boats move fast and the ones that linger usually have a reason.

Either way, the pre-owned market runs on verification: a surveyor before the sale, a mechanic for the engine history, a detailer to close the gap between asking and getting. Waypoint lists all three across 13 states, every listing checked against the business's own website. Start with surveyors near you, or post what you need at In Search Of.

The new-boat market will find its footing eventually. Until it does, the used dock is where the handshakes are happening.