With some new pressures on the equipment market, there has been a slow decline in resale and auction prices over the past year, but there may also be concerns about a softening of the market through 2025. The latest figures from industry analyst EquipmentWatch show a months-long decline in resale and auction prices as machine values continue to erode.
Monthly equipment resale values have been falling, but perhaps the clearest sign of a broader price decline is the 2.0% year-over-year decline. “Prices are coming down a little bit, but that’s been a trend all year,” explains Sam Pierce, sales engineer at EquipmentWatch. “The auction has also been going down; values there are down 8.5% compared to last year.”
And there are enough points on the chart to see a pattern now, Pierce says. “Especially the construction part [equipment] market we look at, has consistently dropped a percentage [in resale values] month by month A pretty good indicator of a trend there.”
And it’s not just about getting older machines off the back channels at lower prices, Pierce adds. “You have about a five percent or six percent decline in age and use compared to last year, so even the newer stuff is priced lower. It’s a good indicator of the fall in prices in general.” Pierce says EquipmentWatch hasn’t seen an increase in machine volume at resale or auction, so the drop isn’t caused by excess either.
And there are signs that OEMs continue to struggle in some build categories. John Deere reported a 29% year-over-year decline in net sales and a 36% decline in operating profit for its construction and forestry division in its fourth-quarter results on Nov. 21. 2025. “Headwinds from historically low re-fugitive ground rent levels and somewhat elevated used inventories will boost pressure equipment sales as a market. Uncertainty persists at the start of fiscal 2025 ,” Deere investment communications manager Joshua Rohleder told analysts on a Nov. 21 call.
Things weren’t as dire for Caterpillar, whose most recent third-quarter results announced on Oct. 30 saw year-over-year sales and revenue decline to $16.1 billion from $16.8 billion, a drop of approximately 4%, with operating profit also slightly lower. Looking ahead, Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby saw some potential roadblocks ahead, including the long-debated tariff issue affecting multinational companies like Cat. “We are a global manufacturer. We try to produce mostly region by region, [but] not entirely,” he said during a call with analysts on Oct. 30. “We’ll have to see how everything plays out based on market conditions and what’s really going on. And now it’s a little early. … I always like to wait and see what actually happens rather than making too many predictions before a new administration even comes into power.”
Despite the tariffs, equipment values are expected to continue to fall, along with a similar trend in the elevator market. And looking at the big picture, this may just be a long-overdue correction to pre-Covid-19 prices, before supply chain constraints drive up costs for several years, notes Pierce of EquipmentWatch. “Prior to COVID, these values were lower, and we may be seeing a return to that, albeit slowly.”
