Personal aviation is going up market; that trend is also unlikely to change and will certainly play heavily into the future value of certain types of older and aging private aircraft.
Thirty years ago my home airport had three flight schools (Cessna, Piper and Grumman) and the vast majority of the students were ab-initio private pilot candidates. There wasn't a single jet based there and the only turbines were commercial helicopters.
Today there are still three flight schools but the overwhelming majority (90+% at our FTU) of the students are pursuing commercial status leading to professional careers. The main runway has been lengthened, there are a number of private, personal jets flown by the owners (Citations & Phenoms), all manner of private turboprops (Meridians, TBMs and one PC-12) and the number of active Cirrus and pressurized Malibu piston singles now handily outnumbers the declining Bonanza movements. In 2018 alone three friends of mine, each of whom owned Comanches, sold their planes and stopped flying completely. The old, small T-hangars have been torn down and replaced with 50 ft to 65 ft wide bays deep enough to house the expensive aluminum and plastic.
We are fortunate to still be able to pursue this avocation, but between the costs and the regulations I think we are in the final chapters of it.
