Quarterly Price Index: How Listed Phinisi Values Moved
Updated: August 2026
A useful phinisi price index tracks asking price per registered metre, banded by size class, with condition and certification held constant. Raw averages across all listings are worthless, because the mix changes every quarter. What moves the index is the composition of supply, not the value of any individual hull.
Why a simple average misleads
Suppose the average asking price of phinisi listed in Indonesia rises fifteen per cent in a quarter. That statement carries almost no information. It could mean values rose. It could equally mean that two flagship hulls came to market and three compact hulls sold, shifting the mix upward while every individual vessel held exactly the same value.
This composition effect dominates a market this small. Any index worth reading has to control for it, and the simplest control is to band by size class and report each band separately rather than blending them.
The normalisation that makes comparison possible
- Use registered length, not length overall. Marketing length includes the bowsprit and stern platform and varies by how enthusiastic the copywriter was — see tonnage certificates explained.
- Band by size class — under 24 metres, 24 to 34, and 35 and above — and never blend bands into a single figure.
- Express as price per registered metre within each band, which makes hulls of slightly different length comparable.
- Flag certification status, because a hull with a lapsed operating certificate is not the same product as one without.
- Record listing age. A hull that has sat unsold for fourteen months is evidence about pricing, and dropping it from the sample flatters the index.
Asking price is not achieved price
Everything visible publicly is an asking price. Achieved prices in this market are private, and the gap between the two is real — negotiation, defect-list adjustments and retentions all move the final number below the headline. An index built from listings therefore measures seller expectation, not market value, and should be labelled as such by anyone honest about their data.
The practical use of an asking-price index is directional. It tells you whether sellers are becoming more or less optimistic, and whether supply is thickening or thinning in your band. It does not tell you what to bid. What tells you what to bid is the survey, the certification status and the defect list.
What actually moves the bands
| Driver | Typical effect |
|---|---|
| Charter season strength | Strong seasons reduce supply as operators hold hulls; weak seasons release them |
| New-build pipeline | Yard output competes directly with the top of the pre-owned band |
| Regulatory change | Certification tightening pushes uncertified hulls down and certified hulls up |
| Timber and yard labour costs | Raise replacement cost, which supports asking prices across the pre-owned market |
| Currency movement | Shifts the effective price for international buyers without any change in the hull |
Reading an index as a buyer
Use it to time your search rather than to value a vessel. A band where listing counts are rising and listing ages are lengthening is a band where patience pays. A band where good hulls are being withdrawn quickly is one where hesitation costs you the vessel you wanted. Neither observation replaces the hull-specific work described in depreciation curves and refit records review.
Building your own
It is entirely feasible with a spreadsheet. Record every listing you encounter with date, registered length, band, asking price, certification status and first-seen date. Within two quarters you will have something more useful than any published figure, because it will reflect the band you are actually buying in. Keep the withdrawn and long-standing listings in the sample; they carry most of the signal.
Seasonality in the listing calendar
Supply in this market has a rhythm. Hulls tend to come to market at the end of a charter season, when operators have finished the year, assessed their results and decided what to keep. They tend to be withdrawn or sold ahead of the next season, when a working vessel is worth more to its owner than a listed one. That pattern means the composition of what you can see shifts through the year independently of any change in value, and it is another reason to read bands rather than averages. For a buyer, the practical consequence is that the widest choice and the least seller urgency rarely coincide.
Request the vessel dossier
Ask for the current inventory with registered length and listing date on each hull so you can build your own comparison. WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or write to [email protected]. All figures on this site are quoted in USD.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official phinisi price index?
No. The market is small, achieved prices are private and no authoritative index exists. Anything presented as one is built from asking prices, which measure seller expectation rather than market value.
Why band by size class instead of averaging everything?
Because the mix of listings changes every quarter. Two flagship hulls arriving and three compact hulls selling can move a blended average sharply while no individual vessel changes value at all.
How large is the gap between asking and achieved price?
It varies with condition and certification and is not published. Expect negotiation, defect-list adjustments and retentions all to move the final figure below the headline, which is why survey findings matter more than any index.
Should listings that never sold stay in the sample?
Yes. Long-standing and withdrawn listings carry most of the signal about where asking prices have outrun the market. Removing them produces an index that only ever looks healthy.
Phinisi Boat For Sale is a specialist maritime brand and digital platform under Juara Holding Group. Vessel-sale, construction, refit and repair contracts are issued by PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara. Brokerage, central agency and charter-marketing contracts are issued by PT Komodo Bahari Nusantara. Separate contracts, separate fees, separate ledgers.
Written and checked by the desk. Figures are dated at the point of writing — our editorial standards explains how, and what happens when something here turns out to be wrong.
