U.S. Used Heavy-Duty Construction Equipment Market Overview for September 2024

Rising inventory levels put pressure on prices

According to a report by Sandhills Global’s for the month of September, the inventory levels of used heavy construction equipment continue to rise. It was witnessed that the asking values increased for heavy-duty equipment though the situation continued to be different for lifts where the asking values continued to decline.

The inventory levels continued to rise for the past few months in this market. The increase came into effect for different equipment, such as used crawler excavators, wheel loaders, and dozers in Sandhills’ U.S. marketplaces.

The M/M Inventory levels were up 0.78% while the YOY inventory levels increased by 21.54%. Despite the continued increase, none of the different equipment could reach the inventory levels that existed before Covid pandemic struck the world.  

Impact of increasing inventory levels on auction and asking values

• The market witnessed the asking values increase M/M by 0.46% but still trended downward and turned out to be 4.35% lower YOY.
• As far as the auction values were concerned, the value decreased M/M by 0.6% and 9.49% YOY.

This is a continuity of decline being witnessed for months. Most notably, the used excavator and wheel loader categories witnessed YOY decrease by around 10%.

A source of concern for sellers

A source of concern is that while the auction values have fallen by nearly 10%, the decrease in asking values has only been up to 4.35%. Now this huge difference is creating a huge concern among the sellers.

This huge gap between auction values and the asking values suggests that more and more customers will prefer dealing with auction bidders. So, those planning to sell their used equipment will really have to take this factor into account if they want the best prices in the current market.

What to do now

Those who have used machinery at hand must observe and study these current market trends carefully and devise a strategy that aligns with these market conditions. It will help them monitor the different used equipment markets and successfully devise a strategy that ensures maximum returns on the resale of equipment or returns on purchase.