Hunter 45 DS Buyer's Guide
Shopping the brokerage market for a Hunter 45 DS means looking at Glenn Henderson’s third deck-saloon design from Hunter Marine, a 43-foot-21-inch cruiser with a 14-foot-6-inch beam and a solid-glass-and-balsa hull. Built from 2006 onward, these boats favor the liveaboard and coastal-passage buyer, and understanding the common layouts and construction points will sharpen any survey.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin arrangements are the more common on the used market, but both layouts are available, and ex-charter examples are common. The deck-saloon interior places the saloon and galley in a raised position for visibility through six ports and an overhead hatch, with an L-shaped galley to port and a front-facing nav station with head and shower to starboard. A Pullman-style forward double and a bow head sit forward, while the aft cabin carries a large island berth at the cost of some headroom.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Most boats on the market carry a strong cruising inventory. Power and energy systems commonly include an inverter, lithium batteries, solar, and a bow thruster, with a generator and air conditioning frequently part of the package. For canvas and sail handling, a dodger, bimini, and electric winches are commonly fitted, and many have a furling main to ease short-handed sailing. Navigation gear usually centers on a chartplotter and radar, often backed by AIS and autopilot. Comfort items such as a freezer, cockpit shower, and dinghy davits show up regularly, and a Starlink terminal is a common modern addition.
What to Inspect
The hull is built with a glass-and-balsa-core laminate above the waterline and solid glass below, with Kevlar reinforcement in the bow anchor. Because the interior is a modular grid glued with Plexus and fiberglassed into the keel sump, check the grid-to-hull bonds and the external-flange deck joint sealed with 3M Marine 5200 for any separation or adhesive failure. The all-iron production keel in deep- or shoal-draft form should be examined for corrosion at the flange and any grounding damage, remembering that Hunter sea-tested each grid-and-keel package by running it hard aground ten or more times before delivery.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats typically appear in the United States, Greece, Germany, and Italy. For a buyer, the practical checklist is: confirm which layout is aboard and whether it is an ex-charter hull; verify the iron keel’s condition and the deck-grid adhesion; test the electric winch and bow-thruster systems; and review the solar, lithium, and inverter setup for cruising range. A well-kept 45 DS rewards with a bright deck-saloon interior and a light-air hull tuned by Henderson’s careful center-of-effort shift.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Hunter 45 DS. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 11 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25 | 1 | $199,900 | — |
| Jun 25 | 1 | $189,500 | -5.2% |
| Aug 25 | 1 | $199,000 | +5.0% |
| Sep 25 | 3 | $199,000 | 0.0% |
| Dec 25 | 3 | $199,000 | 0.0% |
| Jan 26 | 1 | $199,000 | 0.0% |
| Feb 26 | 4 | $182,790 | -8.1% |
| Mar 26 | 1 | $215,000 | +17.6% |
| Apr 26 | 5 | $199,000 | -7.4% |
| May 26 | 6 | $181,750 | -8.7% |
| Jun 26 | 6 | $179,000 | -1.5% |
Where they're listed
Hunter 45 DS listings appear across 3 countries. United States has the most listings with 26 (86.7%), followed by Greece and Germany.
Country view
30 listings · 3 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $199,000 | 26 | 6 | 86.7% |
| Greece | $182,790 | 3 | 0 | 10.0% |
| Germany | $230,223 | 1 | 0 | 3.3% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
11 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beneteau Oceanis Oceanis 45 | 45.42' | $ 243,515 | 245 | 45 |
| Performance Sun Odyssey 45 DS | 45.11' | $ 199,900 | 105 | 20 |
| Jeanneau Sun Sun Odyssey 42 DS | 42.42' | $ 156,181 | 96 | 20 |
| Jeanneau Sun Sun Odyssey 50 DS | 49.44' | $ 240,000 | 88 | 26 |
| Hunter 41 DS | 40.32' | $ 130,000 | 66 | 19 |
| Hunter 45 DSYou are here | — | $ 199,000 | 30 | 6 |
| Hunter Marine 426 DS | 41.83' | $ 144,950 | 28 | 6 |
| Aventura 45 | 44.29' | $ 730,286 | 22 | 3 |
| Moody 45 DS | 45.01' | $ 530,925 | 17 | 4 |
| Hunter 44 DS | 43.21' | $ 130,000 | 9 | 1 |
| Dehler 41 DS | 40.85' | $ 104,878 | 6 | 3 |