Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85686
on record | by Marcia Gruver Doyle As the equipment ages... The one distinct change from last year's survey is the num- ber saying that used equipment availability is good. Auction trend prices 80,000 70,000 60,000 50.000 40,000 30,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 were to last year's survey. It appears that equipment owners are holding steady in their equipment management and acqui- sition plans: buying plans were modest, with small increases reported by those who planned to buy one to two artics (up 7 percentage points), compact excavators and wheel loaders (up 4 points each). Despite the industry's credit woes, in both years, respondents who did fi nance reported little problem in getting equip- ment fi nancing. Ninety percent said getting this fi nancing was "easy" or "moderately easy" this year; 87 percent gave the same answer last year. W And despite the general aging of equip- ment fl eets, the vast majority of respon- dents in both years reported the condition of most types of equipment they own to be either "excellent" or "good." The ex- ception: Artics, which in both years, almost 30 percent of respondents reported as only hen reviewing the responses to our latest equipment strategies survey, I was struck on how similar the answers in "fair" condition – an obvious reason behind slightly stronger buying plans for these machines. The one distinct change from last year's survey is the number saying that used equipment availability is good. Last year, 42 percent of respondents reported they were able to generally buy what they wanted in the used equipment market; this year, the number of respondents indicating this decreased to 30 percent. Respondents also reported increases in used equipment prices over the past 6 months. In a new question in this year's survey, we asked how used equipment prices have changed. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they had increased, with 22 percent reporting signifi cant increases of 10 percent or more. The auction trend prices tracked by 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Source: topbid.com. Trend prices for the top 10 models of 13 types of equipment, including backhoes, dozers, excavators, wheel loaders and skid steers. TopBid, Randall-Reilly's auction price reporting service, shows these prices track- ing upward. Going back to January 2007, the peak for this period occurred in Febru- ary, 2007, when the prices for the top con- struction equipment models sold at auction reached almost $75,000 (not seasonally adjusted). It dipped to $40,056 in January 2010, and has been on steady, albeit muted, climb since (see chart). This June, the aver- age price was $46,706, still more than $28,000 from the peak. Which raises the question: if contractors even at these lower levels are already feeling a price pinch in used equipment prices and availability, how much higher do used prices have to go before the scales tip, converting what might have been a used equipment buy into a new ma- chine sale? EW 2012 EquipmentWorld.com |August 2012 9 { { { { {{ Jan. 2007 Apr. 2007 Jul. 2007 Oct. 2007 Jan. 2008 Apr. 2008 Jul. 2008 Oct. 2008 Jan. 2009 Apr. 2009 Jul. 2009 Oct. 2009 Jan. 2010 Apr. 2010 Jul. 2010 Oct. 2010 Jan. 2011 Apr. 2011 Jul. 2011 Oct. 2011 Jan. 2012 Apr. 2012