Boats are weird. I've looked at buying kit from CLC to build a 15' Pocketship: about $12,000 US. Buying a used one, a couple years old? $15k.

Meanwhile, my local yacht club had a 26' 1969 Westerly Centaur one step away from being crushed. Prior owner stopped paying storage fees and refused further contact, so the club put a lien on it. I picked it up cheap, $500. Nobody bothered cutting the lock off the companionway; it was chock full of tools and supplies the prior owner was using to refit it.

I've dropped some cash into finishing the refit, but nowhere near what I would have spent on a 15' Pocketship, and I've got a much more capable boat. There are deals out there.