According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1999 there were 8,200 U.S. marinas. The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) estimated that in 2002 there were 12,000 marinas, boatyards, yacht clubs, dockominiums, parks, and related facilities (note that this higher number includes properties that are technically not marinas, although they are maritime related).  No new studies appear to the available, but we feel the 12,000 number is a credible number.

Today, I did a search on Loopnet (A commercial listing site) and found 412 listings.  Last year at this time there were 80.  Loopnet is only one of the resources for listing a marina for sale.  There is no one place to do it.  Just this one source has 3.4 percent of the maritime related facilities in this Country and 5 percent of the marinas on the market.  Adding in all the local MLS systems, private sites, etc., I wonder what the real percentage is?

That is a very high number given that many of the marinas are government owned and are not ever available for sale to the public (generally).

To investors out there – there is money to be made in these marinas, just purchase smart and using current income streams.

We’ll keep an eye on the number of listings out there.  It is an indication of the health of the industry.