Black Book Insights reports that the last half of 2022, and all of 2023 so far, have seen prices on all types of powersports vehicles drop nearly every month, and by significant amounts the majority of the time. This is in large part due to the ending of the COVID market, Black Book reported. Supply of both new and used units increased sharply late last summer. This coincided with the ending of nearly all pandemic related activity restrictions. At nearly the same time, the Federal Reserve began its campaign against inflation, raising interest rates from 0.0% in 2020 to 5.0% as of May 19. These factors combined to start bringing values down significantly from their COVID highs. Though a few segments are up this month, Black Book expects this overall downwards trend to continue for the rest of 2023, as prices are still higher than historical norms.

“Coinciding with the arrival of springtime and warmer weather, we finally have a few segments poking their heads above ground and showing positive changes in value this month,” Scott Yarbrough, senior analyst, motorcycle & powersport. “The gains are not much, just a few tenths of a percent, but after the past several months of steep declines, any upwards movement in values is welcome. Not coincidentally, the segments moving upwards in value are the Street Bikes and Cruisers, which traditionally see some of their strongest growth in both prices and sales at this time of year.”

“There are several high-profile auctions coming up shortly, including Mecum’s Spring Classic in Indy, RM Sotheby’s Villa Reba, Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas, and a mix of smaller, more niche, sale,” Lawrence said. “The collectible car market has been healthy this year, and in the absence of any unexpected bad news on the economic front, we are expecting all of the upcoming sales to be well attended and produce strong results.”

Lawrence also discussed the state of recreational vehicles. “Warmer spring weather always brings winter weary shoppers into RV showrooms who are looking to either buy a new RV outright or trade up (or down) as their situations change,” he said. “Auction volume is up significantly over last month, almost certainly due to an increase in trade-ins on new RV sales. Full lots are allowing dealers to keep only the ones they want and send the rest to the wholesale auctions.”

According to the RVIA, the total number of RVs shipped in March was 31,869, a decrease of 50.8% from March 2022. Towables totaled 27,404 units (including 21,098 Travel Trailers and 5,250 Fifth Wheels) and Motorhomes accounted for 4,465. Class B motorhomes (Van Camper) ended the month with 1,126 shipped, Class A’s (Conventional) totaled 1,012, and Class C’s (Mini) finished with 2,327. Truck Campers came in at 345, Folding Camping Trailers reached 711, and Park Models totaled 540.