Porsche 993 Pricing Trends
The leader in the price run-up of air-cooled 911 Porsches has always been the 993, but in the past year we have seen prices flatten and in some cases decline.
Haggerty Insurance tracks prices and shows a high reached for a #3 good model in September 2018 of a 1995 coupe to have achieved $57,000. Prices have declined in their database since then with a current value of $49,000 for a #3 good model. The Sports Car Market (SCM) Price Guide shows a similar trend but at a higher valuation. In the 2020 price guide, SCM is showing a median value of $56,000 versus the 2019 guide showing $66,000. SCM bases their pricing on Auction Sales so the best cars are crossing the block and commanding higher prices versus the Hagerty pricing data that brings other sales into consideration.
So, why has the darling of air-cooled Porsches, the 993, seen their prices cooling?
Air Brigade believes there are three primary reasons.
Market Correction
Too Many 993’s on the Market
Air-Cooled Porsche Buyer Desires Have Shifted
Market Correction
As with any market, a rapidly appreciating market eventually corrects and this is what happened with the Porsche 993 market. Prices had been rising at such a pumped-up level with the run-up of air-cooled Porsche prices; the frenzy to buy a 993 just wasn’t sustainable. Prices have leveled in the $50,000 range for a C4 Coupe and will probably fluctuate around this price level until the collector car market and the world finance market settles after the hobby re-starts with the US economy in 2021.
Too Many 993’s on the Market
A price run-up always brings the sellers out hoping for a big price. Porsche 993’s have had high demand with big prices but is supply now too much for the market to bear? Base on the economic principal of supply and demand, too supply with finite demand impacts the prices and bring the prices down. As prices rose, 993 owners may have flooded the market with too many cars for the market to bear so only the very unique and high quality cars are commanding the premium pricing.
Air-Cooled Porsche Buyer Desires Have Shifted
Sales trends tend to go in waves and prices indicated that in 2017 and 2018 the Porsche 993 was the air-cooled Porsche to own. Now, air-cooled Porsche buyer’s want backdated air-cooled Porsches that provide the vintage look of the early long-hood Porsche 911’s but with the safety, comfort and drivability of the Porsche 964. The collector car market is a fickle one and the trend today is to backdate so the shine is off 993’s thus affecting prices.
Air-Cooled Porsche 993 Pricing Take-Away
The Porsche 993 is the last of the air-cooled Porsches and the most refined of the air-cooled Porsches so the market for these cars will always be strong, but it just may not have the rapid price appreciation that occurred in 2016 -2018.
Air Brigade is seeing the buyer for a Porsche 993 as being a current modern Porsche owner (water-cooled Porsche) that wants to have the air-cooled Porsche experience but just are not willing to settle for the visceral drive of the G- and F-Series analog Porsche 911’s that lack the safety and driver aids that today’s Porsche buyer is used to.
Jumping into an early or mid-eighties Porsche 911 that lacks power steering, brakes, ABS with the flat-six air-cooled hum can be a shock to the system for someone coming out of a current day 911 with all of its comfort and safety.
Tags: Porsche 993, Porsche 993 Pricing, Air-Cooled Porsche Pricing