Black Book: Wholesale Prices Rise for Motorhome, Towable

RV Business

Black Book, which publishes a family of vehicle appraisal guides, has released the Black Book RV market commentary for December.

“The average sales prices for motorhomes and towables sold at wholesale auctions both increased last month. This is a little bit surprising given the time of year,” reported Eric Lawrence, Black Book principal analyst – specialty markets. “Usually prices begin their seasonal uptick a little closer to the start of Spring. It’s possible that all the gloomy economic news and talk of a looming recession is causing dealers to shift gears and stock up on older, more affordable vehicles.”

“Taking a closer look at the markets, we see that the average selling price for motorized units was $73,441 which is up $4,876 (7.1%) from the previous month,” Lawrence added. “Towables came in at $19,182, up $653 (3.5%) from last month. One year ago the average motorhome sold for $69,237 and the average towable unit brought $20,520.

The report also note auction volume was down: motorhomes decreased 14.3% while towables dropped 1.51%, and the average age of motor homes was twelve years (2011) and towables was five (2018).