As the year ends and we enter the holiday season, the powersports market
has entered its annual slow phase and prices at recent auctions reflect
this trend.

The market can best be described as sluggish. Prices have been soft
throughout most of this year and continue to drop this month. We expect
to see continued weakness over the next month or so, before dealers
begin to stock up for spring.

The only segment showing an increase in average pricing is the
snowmobile segment, which is up by a modest 1 percent. Prices may climb
as the weather turns colder, but history shows that this segment has
significantly underperformed over the past few winters.

The personal watercraft and jet boats segments are down, but by smaller
amounts considering the time of year and the performance of the rest of
the market. Watercraft is down 2 percent, while jet boats continue to
perform a little better with drops averaging .7 percent.

Within the bikes, the cruiser segment declined the most — it dropped a
full 5 percent. The off-road bike segment isn’t far behind with drops
averaging 4.6 percent. The scooter and dual sport segments have dropped 4
and 3.4 percent, respectively. The street bike segment is down a touch
less at -3.3 percent.

The ATV and utility vehicle segments are down significantly less,
reflecting their high usage in the fall. The two segments have seen
price drops averaging -2.2 percent for ATV and -1.8 percent for the
utility vehicle segment.

Last month, we noted that there were a relatively high percentage of
no-sales and “if” bids at many of the auctions we cover. Even though
prices are down versus last month, the percentage of units being sold
has gone up. Sellers appear to be letting go of these units for less
money, rather than trying to hold on to them as we head into the winter
months. This could be a good time to stock up on inventory for next
spring if you have the cash and storage space.