The supply of used business jets for sale across all size categories remained low last month, but average pricing for them remains soft, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report released yesterday. Business jet inventory in February as a percentage of the total fleet was 19 basis points—or 2,079 aircraft—above October 2018’s 10-year low of 8.8 percent. “After bouncing around [the] last 10-year lows (10.5 to 11.5 percent range) for about three years, [the] supply of used jets has noticeably declined during the last 18 months,” said the report, which includes AmStat and Ascend Online data.

Among size categories, light jets available for sale as of last month rose 20 basis points to 11.1 percent, compared with the 10-year low of 10.6 percent in July 2018. Midsize jet supply was 8.5 percent, which was down from the last high of 9.9 percent last February but up from 8.2 percent in January. And heavy jets edged up one basis point to 6.7 percent from the last decade-long low in January. “We view lower levels of inventory as an indication of recovery of the bizjet industry,” the report noted.

Despite lower levels of used inventory, pricing remains under pressure. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s February price indicator model, average business jet prices across all categories were lower year-over-year by 3.3 percent for light jets, 3.5 percent for medium jets, and 2.6 percent for heavy jets. “We note that recent deterioration in average prices can be partially driven by increasing average age of the inventories for sales as the secondary market reactivates and newer, more expensive jets are acquired earlier,” the report explained.