Small and midsize jets are absorbing the whole preowned slowdown

Small and medium business jets are absorbing nearly all of the preowned market's current pullback, while large jets are holding their value. JETNET's November JIQ Market Barometer, covering trailing 12-month data through October, shows small and medium jet transaction value each down about 11% from the prior year. Large jet transaction value is close to flat.Approximately 1,728 aircraft were available for sale in a typical month during the period covered by the report. Average asking prices were $3.54 million for small jets, $5.01 million for medium jets, and $15.03 million for large jets. The report cited 2,668 pre-owned business jet transactions on a trailing 12-month basis through October with a combined value of $18.59 billion.JETNET attributes the small and medium declines to fewer transactions which have not had an effect on pricing. Small jet asking prices are in fact holding, averaging $3.54 million on a trailing 12-month basis and roughly matching last year's level, even as deal volume has thinned.Large jets show the opposite split. Transaction value there is close to flat, but asking prices are still working off the run-up seen during the pandemic-era boom, easing to $15.03 million, suggesting the large-cabin segment isn't insulated from the correction. It's more likely that higher volume is offsetting softer prices, keeping the aggregate dollar figure steady even as list prices keep coming down.Inventory remains relatively constrained at 6.6% of the fleet, with the shortage concentrated almost entirely in older aircraft while newer aircraft stay scarce. Average days on market are roughly 93 across the whole fleet: aircraft in the 0 to 5 year age group are selling in about 50 days, while aircraft 16 years and older are taking more than 100. At the same time, 74% of listed aircraft are now 16 years old or older.The overlap between an aging inventory and a value decline concentrated in the smaller cabins is real; which one is driving the other is the open question this report leaves on the table.That places greater emphasis on pricing discipline, maintenance status, and records quality as aircraft age.Why it mattersAircraft age increasingly shifts the focus from inventory availability to aircraft condition. As more of the market becomes concentrated in older airframes, factors such as maintenance history, inspection status, engine-program participation, refurbishment quality and records completeness are the differentiators that distinguish one aircraft that sells from another that sits. Where inventory skews oldest, the leverage shifts toward buyers: the challenge is no longer simply finding an aircraft for sale, but evaluating the long-term ownership considerations that come with purchasing from an aging fleet.The same logic cuts the other way for sellers in the small and medium segments: with transaction value already down about 11% and asking prices holding only in the small-cabin market, pricing discipline and a clean records file are doing more of the work than they were a year ago.Browse used jets for sale on GlobalAir.com