A new quarterly market report from aircraft value and appraisal firm Vref said preowned business aircraft sales remained brisk in the third quarter despite a “pre-summer breather" as buyers sought out off-market aircraft and waited for dealer-based inventory refurbishments to get finished and become available for purchase. 

"The current aircraft sales environment is one of the most active I have ever seen. With tightening inventory levels and historical low availability, we are forecasting high residual values for the foreseeable future, as general aviation has been immune to the pandemic thus far," said Vref president and chief technology officer Jason Zilberbrand.

Many models that had fallen out of favor—including older Hawkers, Citations, and Learjets—are “back and back with a vengeance…[and] all of sudden nearly impossible to find,” he said. Zilberbrand believes the trend will not end any time soon, especially as more management companies add to their fleets.

For many business jets, values climbed 15 percent quarter-over-quarter, the company said. “Vref is bullish on the fourth quarter and 2022 as not much seems to rattle the general or business aviation markets,” the report concluded.