The past 12 months were not great ones for the Learjet 45 market, which includes all variants of the original 1999 Learjet 45: the 40, 40 XR, 45, 45 XR, 70 & 75. At one point, average asking prices for the different variants were down between 15-25% this year, compared year over year.
The good news: this downward trend is now stabilizing. Pre-owned inventory levels on nearly all models varied throughout the year, but end-of-year levels were very close to their respective levels at the end of 2015. A healthy market is typically below 10% in the 7-8% range. Fortunately, flat Inventory levels don’t necessarily mean aircraft aren’t moving – after a slow start, retail sales were up in the second half of the 2016 buoyed by the very competitive prices seen. All these trends were indicators of a buyer's market.
Outlook: We believe we’re seeing the bottom of the pricing curve with all trends stabilizing after a market correction. Demand on the preowned market should continue steadily through the next 12 months as prices remain at competitive levels. In the current market, Learjet Model 45 variants are a great value so there will be no lack of buyers if priced correctly.