John Burnham, YachtWorld.com

In July the number of boats sold through U.S. brokerage firms fell 12 percent, a deeper recurrence of a scenario that has played out several times in 2017 when comparing monthly sales figures against the previous year.

Was it merely the cold, wet weather? U.S. brokerage sales continued to be weaker this spring as 3,088 boats were sold in May, 6 percent fewer than in the same month last year.

Our annual rundown of the most commonly listed brands of boats on BoatTrader shows perennial market leader Sea Ray with the most listings again this year by more than a 3-to-1 margin over Bayliner.

Last year the recreational boating industry was celebrating its best March results since 2008 — sales gains of 21 percent in the main powerboat segments and 20 percent industrywide.

After higher-volume sales to begin the year, U.S. yacht brokers have reported slightly lower sales in recent months. Volume declined by 82 boats in April as sales slipped from 2,916 to 2,834, a 3 percent shift.

The shift toward use of smartphones among unique visitors to the Boat Trader website continued during the past 12 months.

There were smiles on the faces of many brokers during the first quarter this year. After moderate gains in January and February, U.S. brokerage market volume eased slightly in March, but total volume for the three months was 3 percent higher than in 2016 at 5,709.

Power-cruiser models were the second-most-viewed class of boat on Boat Trader in 2016.

Whether because of a warm winter, a rising stock market or a post-election bounce, U.S. brokerage sales volume and total valuation increased for the second month running in February.

Center console models were the most viewed class on Boat Trader last year. Site visitors looked at listings for center consoles, new and used, about 12.7 million times, nearly double the 6.5 million times that boats in the No. 2 class, power cruisers, were viewed.

It’s one month into the new year and, after finishing 2016 in the doldrums, the U.S. brokerage market has made a fast start.

Many types of U.S. sellers list new and used-model boats for sale at Boat Trader, ranging from large, multi-office dealers to small shops and private sellers.

For the third year running, U.S. yacht brokers reached the end of December with fewer boats sold than the year before.

Everybody wants a center console! At least that’s the indication in a recent tally of the most-viewed boat classes on the Boat Trader website.

U.S. brokerage sales volume of 1,858 boats in November was in line with recent years — lower by 11 boats, or 1 percent, compared with the previous November.

Boat Trader website visitors increasingly continued to shop for boats on mobile devices during the last year and this report drills down to the operating-system level.

U.S. brokerage sales declined in October for the second month in a row, falling 9 percent as 2,029 boats were sold.

Traffic to Boat Trader’s website peaked during the summer in July at 3.37 million unique visitors.

U.S. brokerage sales volume in September was 4 percent lower than the previous September.

During the last 12 months, millions of visitors to Boat Trader have seen new and used-boat listings, and the most popular class was consistently center consoles.

U.S. brokerage sales reported by YachtWorld member brokers rose 2 percent in August to 2,983 boats from the same month last year, the first monthly uptick since April.

We’re taking a different look at the most-viewed boat brands on Boat Trader for the 12-month period that ended June 30, focusing this time on used freshwater fishing brands.

In July, for the second month in a row, the volume of U.S. brokerage sales was lower by 3 percent than it was in the same month a year earlier.

In the August issue we listed boat brands by the total number of views their used-boat listings received on Boat Trader. This month we rank brands by the total views of their new-boat listings.

Two themes were evident in yacht brokerage sales results for January through June — incrementally lower sales volume and incrementally higher average prices paid.

This month we show which brands’ listings received the most views by consumers searching for boats on the site during the 12-month period through the end of June.

The U.S. brokerage market had a rough ride in May, experiencing an 8 percent dip in sales volume after two months in positive territory.

Sea Ray, Bayliner, Chaparral and Yamaha models were the most commonly listed used boats for sale on Boat Trader during the 12-month period that ended March 31.

U.S. yacht brokerage sales increased seasonally in April and remained ahead of their 2015 pace for the second month in a row.

Through the lens of boat searches on the Boat Trader website, we’ve tracked the trend toward increased use of mobile devices periodically in this DataTracker series.