Q3 2026 Cirrus Market Update

Dear Fellow Cirrus Pilots,

Summer is in full swing, and the Cirrus market has quietly shifted gears over the past few months. After a quarter of steadily building inventory, the data now suggests that demand is starting to catch back up to supply, a meaningful change worth unpacking for buyers and sellers alike.

Supply Growth Is Leveling Off

Since the beginning of the year, we’ve talked about net inventory building as new listings consistently outpaced sales. That trend has clearly decelerated. Sales volume nearly tripled between April and June, while new listings grew at a much slower pace over the same stretch. As a result, the net monthly increase in active inventory (new listings minus sales) has fallen sharply from its March peak and has essentially held flat in late Q2 and early Q3, rather than continuing to climb.

Total active inventory across the fleet, which had been climbing steadily since February, was effectively unchanged from May through July. The percentage of the fleet listed for sale tells the same story: from 4.2% in February to 6% by May, and nearly unchanged since. Average days on market have come down noticeably too, from an average of 155 days in March to 124 days now. 

Put simply: the inventory buildup that defined the first half of the year appears to be running out of steam, not because sellers are pulling airplanes off the market, but because buyers are now absorbing them faster.

A Word of Caution for Buyers

If you’ve been watching rising inventory and thinking time is on your side, summer’s numbers are worth a second look. It doesn’t take much of an uptick in demand to stall out or reverse an inventory trend that’s been building for months. Buyers who wait for supply to keep piling up may find that the window narrows faster than expected, particularly on well-presented, correctly priced aircraft that are already moving quickly.

A Word of Caution for Sellers

That said, sellers shouldn’t read this as a green light to hold firm on pricing just yet. Even as airplanes are moving faster, the average discount off list price actually widened to its highest level of the past twelve months in June (5.8%). In other words, velocity is improving, but buyers are still negotiating hard and getting there. Sellers who interpret shrinking days-on-market as newfound pricing leverage may be surprised by how much room buyers still expect on the number.

Looking Ahead

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this movie, and we have the numbers to prove it. Total inventory across the fleet built steadily from the start of 2025 into a peak last May, drifted sideways over the summer, and then contracted sharply through the fourth quarter, bottoming out around February of this year, at roughly 30% below that summer peak. From that low point, inventory has rebuilt just as sharply through the spring, and by May, it had round-tripped almost exactly back to the same level it sat at one year earlier, right before last year’s pullback began.

We’re not just seeing an echo of last year’s pattern; we’ve arrived back at the same starting point. If the cycle repeats, the current plateau in supply could give way to another inventory contraction heading into the fourth quarter, just as it did last year. It’s too early to call that with certainty, but it’s the closest comparison we have, and it’s one more reason for buyers not to bank on today’s inventory levels sticking around, and for sellers not to assume this summer’s softer footing is permanent either.

Bottom Line

For buyers, the message is straightforward: don’t assume the current supply cushion is permanent, and don’t let a few more listings on the market talk you out of moving on the right airplane. For sellers, the message is equally direct: relatively swifter sales don’t yet mean you can chase last year’s pricing; realistic numbers are still what’s closing deals, even in a tightening market.

As always, we’re happy to walk through how these dynamics apply to your specific aircraft or search. Reach out any time.

Regards,

Mitch Fuhrmann

Cirrus SR Specialist