Miami is not a guessing market — it’s a transaction market.
If you’re buying or selling a yacht in Miami or Miami Beach, listings don’t tell you what the market is doing. Closed sales do. This report breaks down what actually happens when yachts over 36 feet and $250,000 sell in Miami, how long they take, and why pricing accuracy matters more here than anywhere else. Written from inside the market, not from a spreadsheet.

Lürssen Shipyard — Engineering and Bespoke Mastery

Lürssen (sometimes styled Lürssen Yachts) is one of the most technically capable and historically significant superyacht builders in the world. Founded in 1875 in Germany, it began as a commercial and performance boat builder and evolved into a global leader in bespoke superyacht construction. Its legacy is built on serious engineering, continual innovation, and the ability to deliver complex custom projects for the most demanding owner briefs.

Founded in 1967 by Wim van der Valk, Van der Valk Shipyard stands as one of the Netherlands’ most consistent and technically disciplined yacht builders. While many yards have expanded through branding, acquisitions, or volume strategies, Van der Valk has taken a different path: controlled growth, in-house mastery, and a near-exclusive focus on fully custom aluminium motor yachts.

I’m starting a new series dedicated to shipyards that matter — not because they spend the most on branding, but because they consistently deliver well-engineered yachts, stand behind their product, and earn repeat owners. These are yards I respect, follow closely, and am comfortable putting my name behind as a broker.

Miami Yacht Broker Guide: Reviews, Licensing, Careers, Rentals, and the Real Market

What a Miami Yacht Broker Actually Does

A professional Miami yacht broker is not measured by how many listings he controls. He is measured by how early he sees movement.

In Miami, a broker’s role includes:

• Identifying mispriced yachts before they migrate north

• Accessing off-market yachts tied to private capital, relocation, or restructuring

• Engineering timing advantages around Miami Boat Show and seasonal liquidity

• Advising buyers on entry and exit value, not just purchase price

This is why buyers searching for a Miami yacht broker are typically capital-driven, not inventory-driven.

The Miami Boat Show is no longer a logistical obstacle course.
In 2026, it’s fully consolidated in Miami Beach—removing friction, compressing timelines, and exposing real pricing.
For prepared buyers, this is the single window of the year where leverage shifts decisively in their favor.

Yacht prices didn’t go up. The cost of pretending it’s still 2019 did.

Most buyers walking into the Miami Boat Show are anchored to pre-2020 prices that were built on cheap labor, cheap materials, and cheap money. None of that exists anymore.

The market isn’t “too expensive.” It’s filtered. Impulse buyers are gone. First-time owners are exiting. Replacement cost is now the only number that matters.

This is exactly where disciplined buyers move up—quietly—while everyone else waits for a correction that already happened.

The Yacht Trader connects verified marine mechanics with yacht owners, offering a trusted directory plus professional tools for time tracking, quotes, invoicing, and service records.

I sold a 50-meter vessel and two new Dutch builds while watching seven-figure assets tracked in Excel spreadsheets. That contradiction—not a love of software—is what forced me to build The Yacht Trader.

The yacht industry has a mechanic problem.

Not a shortage. An accountability vacuum.

I just wrote about why unverifiable service records cost owners millions—and why that's about to change permanently.

If you've ever inherited a "fully serviced" vessel that wasn't, this one's for you.

The Yacht Trader: Why Yachting Needs Logs Like Aviation

If your vessel registry can be edited, it can be lied about.

That's why every record on The Yacht Trader is immutable, verified, and cryptographically sealed.

Trust built into every transaction.

After years in the yacht brokerage world, I've closed scores of deals on vessels of all sizes, across borders, and through every imaginable structure... Then I bought my own boat. That experience was a wake-up call... That realization? It's why I built theyachttrader.app. And today, I'm excited to announce its launch in beta

Buyers obsess over engine hours because the number feels objective. It is not.

“Low hours” does not measure condition, reliability, or future cost. It measures runtime only. A yacht that sat idle for long periods often carries higher mechanical and systems risk than one that ran consistently under proper load.

Diesel engines are designed to operate, not hibernate. Time, environment, and maintenance discipline degrade yachts faster than use. Rubber, wiring, cooling systems, seals, and fuel components do not pause aging because an hour meter is low.

Sophisticated buyers evaluate documentation, load history, maintenance density, and system integrity. Hours are reviewed in context, not used as a valuation shortcut.

If a yacht is being sold primarily on “low hours,” something more important is usually missing.

This misunderstanding costs buyers real money.

Looking for a reputable yacht broker in Miami? Learn how to evaluate licensing, experience, specialization, and transparency before you buy.

There’s a lot of talk about “value” in yacht brokerage.

This article shows exactly where it shows up — pricing, surveys, and negotiations — using real deals, not opinions.