The market for pre-owned SF50s is now robust and efficient, so buyers of pre-owned SF50s can easily find the right aircraft for their needs and budget. This was not the case after the initial certification and deliveries. Until enough supply made its way onto the market, buyers faced limited choices and prices that included a premium over the cost to buy a new one from Cirrus. This was a result of the fact that a buyer could not purchase a new SF50 from Cirrus unless he/she had already procured a delivery position, either a decade earlier or for some amount in the marketplace once positions began trading on the secondary market.

The marketplace for pre-owned SF50s initially had a difficult time settling on the fair value of a G1 because every owner essentially paid a different all-in price for the plane. Those who put down a $100k deposit with Cirrus in 2007 were able to purchase the plane for the lowest build price and with a large credit for purchase of options - Cirrus gave early position holders 12% annual credit on the deposit, so by 2017, some buyers had more than $120k in credit to apply to their purchase. In these cases, basis could be as low as $1.6M. On the other side of the equation, some early deliveries went to buyers who entered the SF50 marketplace in 2017, once certification was assured, and paid a large premium solely for the delivery position itself. We believe the highest price paid for a delivery position was one we sold for $700,000. This was for delivery of one of the very first SF50s to roll off the line and would have rendered the basis on that SF50 roughly $2.5M. This $900k difference in price paid for the same jet led to some interesting dynamics when those units were competing with each other on the pre-owned market.

Eventually, as the number of units in the overall fleet increased, so too did the number of SF50s for sale in the pre-owned market. This led to a rationalization of pricing, with buyers demanding a small discount once an aircraft was taken “off the lot”.

The pricing dynamics shifted significantly during the early days of Covid, of course. As with all luxury goods, SF50s became extremely scarce [again] and price increases followed suit. At the peak, buyers paid nearly $1m more for a pre-owned G2+ than a new one due to the 1-2 year wait for delivery of a new one. 2023 then brought the “Great Rationalization” - demand tapered a bit, supply of pre-owned units increased, new SF50s availability improved and prices reacted accordingly. That rationalization remains and the SF50 market is now well balanced, with pre-owned units selling below the price of new ones.

Understanding values in the pre-owned SF50 market is relatively simple because there are very few differences between units for sale. The primary factor differentiating value is the generation. G1s tend to sell for 500k less than G2s. There is a similar gap between the G2 and G2+, but this gap can be reduced to zero if the G2+ upgrades are installed on a G2. Unlike a G1, which has no upgrade path to become a full G2, a G2 can become technically equivalent to a G2+ with the addition of hardware and software to allow AutoRadar, and Cirrus IQ.

Outside of generation, the main factor affecting value is JetStream. Because JetStream is transferable (with a fee), the value difference between any two SF50s of the same generation is typically the dollar amount remaining on the JetStream program.

For the same reason that JetStream is the primary differentiator of value between like units, the actual hours are less of a factor in the SF world than the piston world. In valuing piston aircraft (or turbines not covered by engine programs), buyers will pay more for an aircraft with lower time because each remaining engine/prop hour has a specific overhaul cost assigned to it. With virtually all SFs on full JetStream, this is no longer a consideration because the overhaul reserve is being fully funded by the JetStream program. The case is the same for all time-limits parts, such as the parachute. The only monetary adjustment applied to higher hours is based on a perception of wear - the older or the higher the hours, the more worn the cosmetic components may be.

Finally, there is some value assigned to subjective items, such as aesthetics. Cirrus offered custom paint and interior through their Xi program. Assigning value to these individualized cosmetics is nearly impossible due to the varied tastes of both the initial owner (who designed the paint/interior scheme) and the tastes of subsequent owners in the pre-owned market.