I've been following this Expedition and Overland Trailers: Retail Models forum for quite a while. My interest has been to find a more more robust moderate to small sized unit that can stand up to the miles of BLM and NFS backroads in the western USA. Not talking about gnarly jeep trails. My wife and I have owned a 1971 23ft Airstream for 18 years that had an interior rebuild by a the previous owner. Since owning it, we've also upgraded some of the critical parts over the years, including new axles, brakes, shocks and a few other things. While we've hauled this unit down backroads over the years, we were always discriminating about how far off pavement we took it, as it was not designed for taking a beating. We are also fortunate to have had a '99 F250 4x4 with a FWC popup for close 20 years, which was our primary backroad rig. Unfortunately sold it in 2019. So, while there are always tradeoffs when choosing between trailers vs truck campers or vans for exploring, we decided to focus on finding a rugged small to medium size towable. So far at least, we've yet to see anything that motivates us sufficiently to act. This is either due to lack of the features we want or builders including features we don't want, which drives the price up even further.
I've seen a lot of discussion in various threads on this forum speculating on the pricing phenomena that occurred relating to RV's following Covid landing in our laps in the spring of 2020. As we've owned an Airstream for quite some time, I've been following a fellow who runs a site called Airstream Hunter. He has a website and also a Facebook page that serves as a vehicle for people searching for and selling Airstreams. I was on his blog and saw this post from last November, where he discusses the way the market has been moving for "conventional" RV's as we approached 2023. These comments were in response to the question of whether people thinking of selling a trailer should wait for the spring vs selling now in the winter. I thought I'd share the comments he posted below. Of course, he is referencing "conventional" towables which is distinct from most of the "expedition/overland" trailers being discussed on this forum. Being that this latter class of rigs are more focused on a narrower market and most often built by smaller custom shops, one could argue that they are more isolated from the market forces impacting the conventional RV market. However, my sense is that while that may be true, at some point there has to be a softening of some of the pricing we've seen in this niche area. Either that or lack of demand rippling through the specialty market will cause some of these outfits to go under. It is interesting to see the apparent shift from towable to motorhomes with an increase in 2022 vs 2021. I suspect that may also be reflected in the conversion van marketplace. Having said that, I am seeing some of the Mercedes and Ford Transit conversions up for sale on various classified sites remain there longer and frequently post price reductions.
From AirstreamHunter.com
"RVIA stats just released show shipments of "Towable RV's, led by conventional travel trailers, ended the month down 48.3 percent against last October with 27,329 shipments compared to last years 52,856. Interestingly, motorhome shipments are UP 4.1 percent compared to the same period last year."
"So we are seeing two things - demand for new towable RV's is slowing dramatically as the pandemic winds down and interest rates ramp up. And, there is a shift in the market for demand of Motorhomes vs. Travel Trailers, largely driven by the demographics of those every aging Boomers."
"The economic outlook for next year is uncertain at best, and I would expect these slow travel trailer sales to carry on through 2023. Any my price prediction for 2023 can be summed up in one word: LOWER. I don't see anything that suggests pre-owned prices will be higher next year than they are currently."
I've seen a lot of discussion in various threads on this forum speculating on the pricing phenomena that occurred relating to RV's following Covid landing in our laps in the spring of 2020. As we've owned an Airstream for quite some time, I've been following a fellow who runs a site called Airstream Hunter. He has a website and also a Facebook page that serves as a vehicle for people searching for and selling Airstreams. I was on his blog and saw this post from last November, where he discusses the way the market has been moving for "conventional" RV's as we approached 2023. These comments were in response to the question of whether people thinking of selling a trailer should wait for the spring vs selling now in the winter. I thought I'd share the comments he posted below. Of course, he is referencing "conventional" towables which is distinct from most of the "expedition/overland" trailers being discussed on this forum. Being that this latter class of rigs are more focused on a narrower market and most often built by smaller custom shops, one could argue that they are more isolated from the market forces impacting the conventional RV market. However, my sense is that while that may be true, at some point there has to be a softening of some of the pricing we've seen in this niche area. Either that or lack of demand rippling through the specialty market will cause some of these outfits to go under. It is interesting to see the apparent shift from towable to motorhomes with an increase in 2022 vs 2021. I suspect that may also be reflected in the conversion van marketplace. Having said that, I am seeing some of the Mercedes and Ford Transit conversions up for sale on various classified sites remain there longer and frequently post price reductions.
From AirstreamHunter.com
"RVIA stats just released show shipments of "Towable RV's, led by conventional travel trailers, ended the month down 48.3 percent against last October with 27,329 shipments compared to last years 52,856. Interestingly, motorhome shipments are UP 4.1 percent compared to the same period last year."
"So we are seeing two things - demand for new towable RV's is slowing dramatically as the pandemic winds down and interest rates ramp up. And, there is a shift in the market for demand of Motorhomes vs. Travel Trailers, largely driven by the demographics of those every aging Boomers."
"The economic outlook for next year is uncertain at best, and I would expect these slow travel trailer sales to carry on through 2023. Any my price prediction for 2023 can be summed up in one word: LOWER. I don't see anything that suggests pre-owned prices will be higher next year than they are currently."
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