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Bike, ATV, PWC markets gaining value at auction, Black Book says

The motorcycle and powersports market is showing substantial positive gains in value for nearly all segments this month as the spring selling season at auction gets underway, according to Black Book managing editor Ricky Beggs.

“In much the same way as the unusually mild winter decimated snowmobile sales in most areas of the country, the early arrival of spring in many areas has led to the strong rise in values we are currently seeing at the auctions,” Beggs said in the April Specialty Market Report.

Black Book reports that street, cruiser, scooter and ATV segments are up 2.5-3 percent at auction. The off-road, on/off road, jet boat and PWC segments are up by 3-4 percent and snowmobiles, not surprisingly, are down another 4 percent from last month’s values.

For the first time in a few years, slightly older bikes, those three to seven years old, have outpaced gains in prices for the one- to two- year-old models that have recently been in demand by value conscious customers looking for nearly new bikes at used prices, Beggs said.

“The lowered production volumes over the past three years, coupled with an apparently recovering economy, appear to be driving prices up at fairly significant rates for wholesale auction units,” Beggs writes. “Another item to note is that we are still seeing quite a bit more variation in price from auction to auction, and region to region, than has been normal in the past.

“It is always important to remember that our values are national averages and your individual market may vary somewhat from the book values. As the economy recovers, some areas of the country are clearly doing better than others, and adjusting for your local market conditions is more important than ever.”

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