Demand is strong, transactions are rising, and inventory is tight. That is the headline, and it is broadly accurate.
Beneath it sits a divide that matters enormously if you are buying, and which the aggregate numbers hide.
Activity is accelerating
Pre owned business jet sales rose 21 percent compared with the previous year in the first half of 2026, with IADA dealers closing 746 deals, the third highest second quarter of the past decade.
New deliveries were also strong. Business jet shipments jumped 11.8 percent to 854 aircraft in 2025, the best year since 2009, with airplane billings reaching $31 billion.
This is not a market in difficulty.
Inventory is tight, but not uniformly
Roughly 6.5 percent of the active jet fleet was listed for sale in mid 2026, against a ten year average of 8.1 percent. Earlier in the year some measures put it near 4 percent, well below the 8 to 10 percent considered balanced.
But composition has shifted. Older aircraft are listing more often and sitting longer. In certain large cabin segments, 2018 and 2019 vintage aircraft coming off their first ownership cycles have pushed inventory to multiyear highs.
The practical reading: buying a clean, late model, programme enrolled aircraft means competing in a genuinely tight market with little negotiating room. Buying older or higher time equipment gives you considerably more leverage than the headline suggests.
Two different markets wearing the same name.
Pricing: firm at the top, softer below
Median pre owned values are up 5 percent compared with the previous year, with average list prices up 7 percent.
Yet average asking prices based on listings fell 29 percent to $4.8 million. That is not a collapse in values. It is a change in mix. More older, cheaper aircraft listing drags the average down while clean late model aircraft continue to appreciate.
This is the most misread statistic in the market. A buyer expecting to negotiate hard on a late model G650 because asking prices are down 29 percent will get nowhere.
On large cabin aircraft: a clean 2018 G650ER that peaked at $52 million, with some reaching $58 million, has been trading at $40 million to $45 million with an engine programme in 2026. That represents a 15 to 25 percent correction from the top.
Well priced inventory clears in 90 to 120 days. Mispriced inventory sits for six to nine months. That spread is a diagnostic in itself.
What is pushing buyers to pre owned aircraft
Manufacturer backlogs
Backlogs stretch into 2027 and beyond. A buyer who needs an aircraft this year cannot order one.
Bonus depreciation
One hundred percent bonus depreciation has improved the economics after tax for buyers subject to United States taxation, pulling decisions forward.
Financing
Financing has become materially more friendly to borrowers.
The replacement cycle
Owners sell only when they have a new aircraft to move into. Long backlogs mean sellers cannot release current aircraft, which keeps used inventory scarce. The two markets are linked more tightly than they appear.
Where leverage sits
Market power has shifted toward sellers, producing one of the lowest readings driven by buyers in eight quarters.
But segment matters. Late model aircraft with clean maintenance histories command premium pricing with minimal flexibility. Turboprops and light jets are softer, with buyers more sensitive to rates and upcoming maintenance events.
Around 85 percent of dealers expect pricing to hold or decline slightly over the next six months. This is a market that has stopped rising sharply, with no sign of breaking.
What this means if you are buying
Move early on late model aircraft
Clean, programme enrolled aircraft are structurally scarce, not cyclically scarce. Waiting does not improve your position.
Know which market you are in
Leverage depends almost entirely on age, condition and maintenance status. Applying aggregate commentary to a specific airframe is how buyers overpay.
Treat time on market as data
Anything listed beyond four months is mispriced, has a condition issue, or both. That is worth knowing before you pay for an inspection.
Underwrite the maintenance position, not the asking price
Programme enrolment, time since major inspection and damage history drive value far more than headline price. A cheaper aircraft with an inspection due is often the more expensive purchase.
Verify the chain before committing resources
Offers circulating in this market vastly exceed genuinely available aircraft, and much of what circulates is not controlled by the party circulating it. Establishing who actually holds the aircraft, with documentation rather than assurance, is the highest value step in any acquisition.
The read
2026 is liquid and functioning, with no structural weakness. It also punishes buyers who treat it as one market.
For clean late model and ultra long range equipment, sellers hold the advantage and will continue to do so while backlogs last. For older aircraft and the light end, buyers have real leverage.
At the large cabin end, the correction from 2022 peaks has opened one of the better acquisition windows in years, provided you buy the right airframe with the right maintenance position, and provided you can verify the aircraft genuinely exists and is genuinely available.
That last point is not cynicism. It is the practical reality of a market where demand consistently outstrips verifiable supply.
Work with Westcourt Advisory
Westcourt Advisory advises on and facilitates business aircraft acquisitions and disposals for principals, family offices and operators internationally.
We act on both sides, sourcing against defined buyer mandates and placing verified availability with qualified buyers. Every transaction is structured with confirmed access, short chains, and proper documentation before capital or information moves.
If you are acquiring, disposing, or want an opportunity assessed before committing resources, we would welcome the conversation.
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Westcourt Advisory is a cross border advisory firm. This article is provided for general information and does not constitute legal, financial or investment advice. Market data is drawn from published industry sources including IADA, AMSTAT, GAMA and JETNET.