By Russ and Tiña De Maris
While RV manufacturers and dealers are cheering, prices are worrisome for those buying RVs. There’s been a lot of interest in used RVs, and the prices for months have been in the stratosphere. If you’re buying or selling a used RV, you’ll want to know just what’s happening. Here’s the latest information from market watcher Black Book.
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Two-month straight drop
January wholesale prices (determined by surveys of RVs sold at auction) have dropped for the second straight month. Chalking much of this up to colder, wintry weather, Black Book’s point man for the RV market says he isn’t surprised. “Specialty vehicles often see lower demand during the colder months,” says Eric Lawrence. However, “Motorhomes dropped more sharply than towables, but it’s noteworthy that their average age was two years older than last month.” That is, if you watched January auctions, and compared them to those in December, the average model year of motorhomes sold in January were 2009. In December, the rigs were newer, with a model year average of 2011.
But what about those prices? Motorhomes, on average, sold for $69,237. That’s down a whopping 12.6% in just a single month. Towables likewise saw a price slide: The average “under the gavel” price for a trailer was $20,520. Not as impressive as motorhomes’ slide, only down 4.1% from December. But stack these figures up against January 2021. At that time motorhomes averaged $55,072, and trailers could be had for $18,191.
What’s it mean for you?
If you’re buying or selling an RV, what’s it all mean? If you’re buying, now could be the time to start skulking RV dealerships or browsing the want ads. Of course, prices will vary across the country. But still, you should be in a more favorable position to bargain than months ago. Selling? Expect less demand. Auction markets were down in the total number of units sold: 15% fewer motorhomes, 13% fewer trailers. If you can “sit on it,” it might be best to wait for warmer weather to crank up interest in buyers.
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##RVT1037b
Yeah, We are feeling it. Our MH has been for sale since late Sept. 2021 and no bites. The unit is a 2021, excellent condition and low miles. The price is right at NADA. No offers.
All – Seasonal dip. Newmar/Freightliner Chassis raised prices 8% and 11% respectively. Newmar also took off any “price lock guarantees” for any ordered RV. What that means is, you negotiate deal (dealers can and do command retail price in today’s market), sign on the line, and wait, possibly as long as a year for your dream RV, during that time, prices on labor, parts have increased 10%, those prices are passed along to you when you pick up. So, the 300,000-dollar deal now has gone up 30,000 dollars. The quality of units has gone down, and who knows if the parts and pieces are/were place/installed correctly. Newmar had the best QC, owners today are reporting higher dissatisfaction on quality, and more issues upon inspection at time of purchase. Good Luck.
I believe we’ll hold onto our TT for awhile, it’s paid for so it’s only costing insurance and license fee. Even though we’ll be moving to a resort community in 3 weeks, we may still want to explore FL hotel free, in the future, the best part we know who slept in our bed last night, US!