While there have been some worries about clouds on the horizon, it’s not evident from a glance at the heavy equipment market. After a few years of supply chain issues and uncertainty about the market, prices for used equipment seem to have leveled off and even slightly declined, according to the latest data from industry analyst firm EquipmentWatch. “In the construction equipment field it looks like values are dropping year-over-year, which seems likea good thing, as there’s more affordable equipment out there,” notes Samuel Pierce, sales analyst with EquipmentWatch. “Every indicator dropped slightly in February, but it’s more or less stable. It’s less of a drop than in January.”
Pierce adds that a few months of a dip in prices does not indicate a general slide, and when setting aside normal seasonal construction trends it’s more indicative of stable pricing. There are other signs that stand out, however, such as a jump in usage in some categories. “Looking at the numbers overall, machine usage in agriculture, lift and construction categories is all up significantly over what we saw last month, which is unusual—almost a 30% increase in auction category for construction.” This could be a statistical blip, but also may indicate that there is some well-worn equipment from recent years aging out that saw heavier use due to pandemic-related supply chain constraints.