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The preliminary third-quarter 2026 review of preowned business aircraft activity published by AMSTAT points to tight supply and rising values for heavy and super-midsize jets. Andrew Young, AMSTAT's general manager, said the data so far shows the market "moving in different directions by segment," with transactions slowing for medium jets, light jets and turboprops. More Q3 data is still coming in, so the picture remains incomplete. AMSTAT will exhibit at Booth 2531 at NBAA-BACE 2026 in Las Vegas.Heavy jet supply stays tight while super-midsize inventory climbsThe preowned heavy-jet inventory shrank in the first half of 2026. But now, it appears to have plateaued. Only 5.1% of the heavy-jet fleet is for sale, against a 10-year average of 7.0%. Year-to-date heavy-jet transactions are 7.3% above the same period in 2025. The median value of preowned heavy jets has risen 14% this year. The sales gain was larger at mid-year. Heavy-jet transactions stood 18.5% above 2025 at the end of June, and the Bombardier Challenger 604 and Gulfstream G450 were the top sellers. Q2 alone showed 43.8% growth year over year, although Q2 2025 had been soft for large-cabin jets.After a sharp contraction in the fourth quarter of 2025, the preowned super-midsize inventory has climbed 11.4% this year, with year-to-date sales 11.7% above 2025. Transactions in this segment were roughly flat through June. Only 6.6% of the fleet was listed at that point, and the Challenger 300 and Gulfstream G280 led sales. Median values rose after 2025 but have recently leveled off. They are up only 2% year to date. The segment now sits between the tight heavy-jet market and the softer smaller categories.Medium jets, light jets and turboprops slow in Q3While light-jet transactions were up 4.4% and turboprop transactions up 4.1% in the first half of 2026, these three segments have weakened in the preliminary figures of Q3:Medium Jets: Inventory is up almost 10% this year, and sales trail 2025 by nearly 6%. Median values have still risen 4%.Light Jets: About 7% of the fleet is for sale, below the 8.9% average. Q3 transactions fell 26% from Q3 2025 (Q3 2025 light-jet transactions had risen 8.2% year over year), and AMSTAT expects year-to-date sales to end about 6.2% lower. Median values are down 4%.Turboprops: About 5.0% of the fleet is for sale, below the 5.8% average. Q3 transactions dropped 47%, and year-to-date sales should finish near 9% lower. Median values are down 5%, although the decline has slowed.Q3 follows a 10.5% Q1 drop and an 11.2% Q2 rebound in preowned salesAMSTAT's earlier 2026 reports showed a market that changed from quarter to quarter. Preowned business aircraft transactions fell 10.5% year over year in Q1, and stock closed March at 5.9% of the active fleet, counting jets and turboprops. Back then, Chris Skurat, AMSTAT's director of sales, had said that inventory was tight and that demand was holding. Transactions then rose 11.2% in Q2 and ran 14% above the 10-year Q2 average. By the end of June, 6.5% of the active jet fleet was listed for sale, against an 8.1% norm and little changed from the 6.6% jet-only figure in March. Median jet values were up 5% year over year.Heavy-jet sales growth has cooled from 18.5% at mid-year to 7.3% through Q3, so the fourth quarter will show whether inventory near 5% keeps lifting values or starts to cap sales.