International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) members are reporting a balanced market for preowned business aircraft in the second quarter of 2024. Sales are steady and values of late model aircraft remain strong, according to IADA's Second Quarter 2024 Market Report.

“For the next six months, two thirds of members surveyed predict that pricing and demand for large and ultra-long-range bizjets will decline while supply will increase, continuing a trend noted in our last quarterly report,” says IADA executive director Wayne Starling. “Most IADA survey respondents anticipate stable demand in the turboprop and light jet segments for the next six months, though opinions vary more for mid-size and larger jets.”

Reported activity in the second quarter of 2024 included an impressive 366 closed deals, up 20 per cent, compared to the second quarter of last year. It was the highest number of transactions recorded in a second quarter since the IADA survey was initiated in 2020.

Year-to-date in 2024, the 620 closed deals reported were up 14 per cent in volume compared to the first half of 2023, an indicator of a healthy level of activity in a rebalancing marketplace.

However, several macroeconomic factors are contributing to some ongoing uncertainty. These include geopolitical tensions, the divisive global election cycle and persistent inflation/interest rate concerns. Most IADA members have been impacted by these headwinds and still view the global preowned business jet market with guarded optimism.

Demand for preowned business jets has remained resilient yet tempered as more aircraft have come to market. IADA has also seen an increase in transaction times as buyers and sellers take more time to negotiate pre-purchase inspection findings. IADA members look forward to the second half of the year, as their cautiously optimistic outlook continues to define the landscape moving through 2024.

The IADA Market Report is based on both quantitative sales data and the exclusive, on the ground perspective of IADA members, who buy and sell more aircraft by dollar volume than the rest of the world's dealers combined. The organisation's membership and survey participants include IADA-accredited dealers, certified brokers and IADA-verified products and services members.

Insights from these IADA-accredited dealers and IADA-verified products and services members follow:

“The market continues to 'normalise' driven by increases in supply, higher interest rates and upcoming election uncertainty. It's critical for buyers and sellers to work with an IADA-certified dealer during this market transition period to ensure they are getting the most up-to-date market intelligence and guidance that they can trust,” notes Shawn Holstein, Holstein Aviation, an IADA-accredited dealer.

“Overall, from what we have monitored, markets still seem to be generally healthy from an inventory and transaction volume perspective. I believe we will see steady activity that will likely persist through the beginning of next year," comments James Norris, Omni Aircraft Sales, IADA-accredited dealer.

“While there is still solid demand for preowned aircraft, demand by itself doesn't translate to successful closings. Selling in this market successfully requires accurate pricing and hard work once again,” adds Chris Meisner, Meisner Aircraft, another IADA-accredited dealer.

“While there is more inventory for sale, we still expect a strong Q3 and Q4,” remarks Cameron Jones, Jones Aviation Group, IADA-accredited dealer.

“The market continues to balance back to more normal conditions with available inventory increasing while demand remains strong. It has come down from the prior Covid levels,” says Lee Rohde, Essex Aviation Group, an IADA-accredited dealer.

“The market has clearly calmed down from the post-Covid craziness. But many of the people who finally discovered aircraft ownership during this period are likely to remain. Short of a major financial downturn or a 'black swan' event there are lots of reasons to be optimistic about the next few years,” comments Alasdair Whyte, Corporate Jet Investor.

“[The] bubble is deflating, not burst. Those airplanes that rise/rose the most in the pandemic face the largest budget declines. Late model aircraft remain strong due to OEM backlogs,” states Cameron Gowans of ente Group.

“Pricing on aircraft 20 years old and newer will likely not drop to pre-COVID levels because of [a] stronger demand base,” remarks Joseph Carfagna of Leading Edge Aviation Solutions.

“I think we have hit the summer lull early this year. We are all busy but not many transactions have actually occurred over the last few weeks/months. Our buyers have put projects on hold as there appears to be a delta between what a seller will take and what a buyer will offer,” says Kyle Wagman of Leading Edge Aviation Solutions.

“Business aviation continues to show that its value proposition is 'for real.' North America has continued to come off its boil, but other international markets are starting to warm up to take advantage of the slack. Utilisation numbers are still very strong, with fractional [ownership] making particularly strong gains in that metric. Low time, well-equipped, great-pedigree aircraft are still trading quickly and not easy to find,” comments Shawn Dinning, Dallas Jet International.

“The year has been surprisingly more active than anticipated. The 'wait and see' mentality appears to be delayed despite it being an election year and interest rates remaining unchanged,” states Scott Oshman, Oshman Aviation.

“Inventory [is] slowly growing, and some deals are getting done even though the majority of sellers are holding firm and not motivated, while most buyers will only pull the trigger if they find a deal,” remarks Frank Janik, Leading Edge Aviation Solutions.

“The move toward balance continues. More supply, slight price softening but continued buyer activity,” says John Odegard, 5x5 Trading.

“Seasoned owners are watching the correction take shape, which will ultimately determine when and if they step in to the marketplace to upgrade and/or replace. The ascent that occurred over the past few years has summited, the rate of descent seems manageable and will bring informed buyers back into the space,” comments Troy Lawson, West Elk Aircraft, IADA-accredited dealer.

“The demand for good, clean aircraft will remain stable throughout the year and buyers will be looking for deals! I believe we will see a reasonably strong fourth quarter,” states Andy Toy, Axiom Aviation.

“The election may give a few buyers 'excuses' to put off purchases until 2025, but the amount of acquisition assignments we currently have suggest the usual 'wait and see' isn't necessarily occurring this time around. Thus far in 2024, the market has fared better than we originally anticipated. The climb of supply has been well received by a very qualified pool of buyers who waited to get past the buying fury of 2022-2023,” comments Chad Anderson, Jetcraft.

“Trading volume in Europe is low; several European jets are now being sold to South America,” states Nicolas von Mende, Atlas Air Service.

All quoted companies in this article are IADA-accredited dealers and members.