The superyacht market went into this year's Monaco Yacht Show on the back of its strongest first half in years, and came out of it with a clearer picture of where the money is going. Brokerage values are at record levels, the biggest yachts are changing hands faster than ever, and shipyards are signing contracts for delivery six years from now. Yet the mood on the pontoons at Port Hercule was measured rather than euphoric, and below 60 metres buyers hold most of the cards.

Superyacht sales in 2026: fewer deals, bigger cheques

The figures published just before the show set the tone. According to BOAT International's BoatPro data, reported by Monaco Life, 281 yachts of 24 metres and over were sold worldwide between January and June, worth a combined €4.05bn. That compares with 272 sales worth €3.61bn in the first half of 2025, and 225 sales worth €2.21bn the year before.

The number of deals barely moved; their value did. The average asking price of a yacht sold rose to €14.4m, from €13.28m a year earlier and €9.83m in the first half of 2024. Activity also picked up through the period, from 129 sales in the first quarter to 152 in the second.

The real story is in the size bands:

  • 50 to 70 metres: sales rose 52.9%, from 17 to 26 yachts.
  • 40 to 50 metres: up 10%.
  • 30 to 40 metres: down 6%.

The biggest deals of the half underline the point. Feadship's 100.7-metre Moonrise changed hands at a reported €325m, sold by Burgess in under six months. The 89-metre Amels Mirage followed at €165m, then the 66.3-metre Hampshire at €85m and the 61-metre Jubilee at €73.5m.

What the Monaco Yacht Show fleet revealed

The 35th edition of the show ran from 23 to 26 September and drew around 30,000 visitors, according to BOAT International's review. The fleet was marginally smaller than last year's but heavier in tonnage, a neat summary of the market as a whole.

YachtBuyer counted 117 superyachts in the harbour, with a combined length of 5.58 kilometres and an average of just under 48 metres. Seventy-nine were making their debut and 46 had been delivered this year. More than 560 exhibitors filled the quays.

The headline arrivals were large even by Monaco standards:

  • Oceanco's 111-metre Leviathan, delivered in November 2025 and the biggest yacht at the show, built around a crew-focused layout with a dive centre, laboratory and hospital.
  • Lürssen's 102.4-metre Nixie, with a 270-square-metre beach club and diesel-electric propulsion.
  • The 80-metre Amels Pangea, the first Amels 80 to be shown publicly.

Further down the length scale, Baglietto unveiled its T60, the largest yacht the Italian yard has built, alongside the 50-metre FAST50, while GX Superyachts showed its first model, the 42.1-metre GX42 RPH.

The brokerage market: resilient, and selective

Seventy yachts in the show fleet were listed for sale. BOAT International put the brokerage fleet's value at just under €2.1bn, while YachtBuyer calculated an average asking price of $35.2m. The three most expensive listings were all large Dutch-built yachts: the 72-metre Feadship Vanish at €148m, the 76.5-metre Feadship Boardwalk V at €135m and the 74-metre Amels Synthesis at €132m.

The charter market is robust, but below 60 metres it is a buyer's market.

That, in essence, was the verdict BOAT International gathered from brokers and builders over the week. Charter demand was described as strong and the brokerage market as resilient, but the emphasis was on quality of visitor over quantity; Wednesday was repeatedly named as the day the serious clients came through. Trust, agility and patience were the qualities people said the market now rewards.

For sellers of mid-sized yachts, the message is uncomfortable but not new. Of the size bands BoatPro highlighted, 30 to 40 metres was the one where sales fell in the first half, and buyers there can afford to take their time.

The superyacht order book: longer queues at the top

At the very top, the constraint is not demand but shipyard capacity. Days before the show, BOAT International reported the sale of Project M, a Lürssen of more than 125 metres and over 6,000 gross tonnes. It will be built in Bremen for delivery in May 2032, with an exterior by Espen Øino and interiors by the British studio RWD. Royal Yacht International, Italian Yacht Group and Kitson Yachts brokered the deal and will represent the buyer through the build. As Kitson's Brandon Kummer put it, "the sale is only the beginning".

Project M joins nine other Lürssen yachts already under construction, among them the 123-metre Project Elusive, sold earlier this summer.

The wider order book shows the same shift towards size. BOAT International's 2026 Global Order Book, summarised by Yacht Style, found Italy building 568 yachts of 24 metres and over, far more than any other country. Germany, by contrast, had just 18 yachts in build, yet their combined gross tonnage was close to that of Turkey's 141. Azimut|Benetti remained the largest producer for a 26th year, with 163 yachts and 23% of the market, ahead of Sanlorenzo with 130.

Azimut|Benetti also launched a dedicated service division covering maintenance, crew management and owner services, a sign that builders see lasting value in the years after delivery, not just the contract signature.

What to watch

  • Pricing below 60 metres. If sellers in the 30 to 40-metre band keep adjusting expectations, volumes there may recover in the second half. If not, the gap between a busy top end and a slower middle will widen.
  • Build slots. With delivery dates for the largest custom projects now stretching into the 2030s, buyers who want a big yacht sooner have to look at the brokerage market, as the speed of the Moonrise sale suggests.
  • Aftercare. As average yacht size grows, so does the business of keeping them running. Refit, crew and management services are where shipyards are now looking for steadier revenue.

The takeaway

The superyacht market is not booming across the board; it is concentrating. Wealth at the top end is flowing into bigger, newer yachts and long-dated custom builds, while the middle of the market is negotiating harder. For buyers, that means leverage in some size bands and queues in others. For brands serving owners, the opportunity is increasingly in the long life of a yacht rather than the moment it is sold.

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