Continuing solid demand for many of the new products handled by many rural lifestyle equipment dealers, including compact, utility and garden tractors as well as ATVs, is helping to maintain the valuations of used equipment.

According to the Machinery Pete’s Quarterly Used Values Index for the third quarter of 2016, the sales value of these categories of equipment is either up or not too far off values for the year.

Based on auction data compiled by Greg Peterson (aka “Machinery Pete”), tractors under 100 horsepower have achieved an Index Rating of 8.4, which is up from 8.3 in the second quarter and 7.9 a year ago. Peterson says he’s seeing continued strong auction sale pricing on equipment in this category. For the fourth quarter, he says, “Very solid buyer demand will be seen in this category of lower horsepower used tractors. Hobby farm and acreage owners are much more bullish.”

He reports that the Index Rating for garden tractors is 7.5. This is up from 7.3 in the second quarter 2016 and 7.1 for the same period in 2015. Peterson says, “A lot of heat and rain this summer and in early fall, plus a stronger general economy, meant rising buyer demand for good condition used garden tractors.”

Looking ahead to the last quarter of 2016, he adds, “Out of season market for used garden tractors could cool buyer demand a bit.”

ATVs, on the other hand, saw its Rating Index slip to 7.3 from 7.5 in the third quarter of 2016. It’s also down from the 8.0 rating from a year earlier. “Used ATV/utility vehicle values continue to slide lower, now four quarters in a row. Dealer excess inventory and manufacturing recalls are an issue,” says Peterson.

For the fourth quarter, he adds, “Used values are likely to erode further as dealers work through excess new and used inventory with special pricing offers.”

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