2021

Quick Data is a snapshot of new and used compact excavator sales trends from Randall Reilly's EDA equipment financing data, TopBid auction price service and EquipmentWatch market trend reports.

Sales of new and used financed compact excavators were down year-over-year from July 2021 to June 2022, as the U.S. construction equipment market continues to wait for supply chain improvements to trickle down, according to Randall Reilly's EDA equipment financing data.

Financed new compact excavator sales were down 3.3%, while sales of financed used machines were down 1.3% during the same comparative time period.

In an August call with investors, Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby said the company has yet to see a return to normalcy from its material and components suppliers, Industry Week reported. "It's still hand-to-hand combat. It changes from component to component. One day, it's one issue. One day, it's another issue. But at the macro level, we have not seen an improvement."

Of all manufacturers, Cat sold the highest volume of financed used compact excavators during the period. The top-selling used models included the Deere 35G, Cat 308E2 CR SB and the Cat 305E2 CR.

Looking at new models, Kubota sold the most units. At the date we examined the data, the top-selling models were the Kubota KX040-4, Deere 35G and Kubota KX057-5.

Equipment World; Data: EDADuring this period, there were more buyers of both new and used compact excavators in Texas than in any other state: 3,284 new machines and 937 used units were financed in the state. Buyers of new compact excavators were also prevalent in Florida (2,111 buyers) and California (1,993 buyers).

In addition to Texas, the top states for those financing used compact excavators were Missouri (543 buyers) and North Carolina (506 buyers).

EDA data is compiled from state UCC-1 filings on financed construction equipment. EDA continually updates this data as information comes in from each state.

Used compact excavator sales rose 8.7% for the 12-month period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, according to Randall Reilly's EquipmentWatch market trend data. The average price for a used compact excavator was $42,624 in July 2021 compared to $46,327 in June 2022. The average age of used compact excavators declined slightly during the period, dropping from 5.94 years to 5.66 years.

EquipmentWatchThe average price and age were calculated based on 58,794 resale listings during the period in the EquipmentWatch database.

Over the last 12 months, prices for used compact excavators have in general increased, with the largest jumps in August 2021 (5.04%) and June 2022 (4.01%)

EquipmentWatchEquipmentWatch defines fair market value (FMV) as the monetary value of an asset that can be expected in a transaction with a single seller and single buyer, neither of whom is under any compulsion or time restriction to complete the transaction. FMV for heavy equipment is most closely associated with the private, resale market, as opposed to the public, auction market.

Looking at the top 20 compact excavators sold for the 12-month period of September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2022, in terms of auction price, Caterpillar accounted for half of the top 20 price spots. Other players – including Deere, Hitachi, Doosan, Takeuchi and Komatsu – also topped the charts.

Taking the top auction price spots were two Cat 309CR compact excavators with 100 hours. Both sold for $165,000 at an Alex Lyon & Sons sale in Bushnell, Florida, on February 11, 2022. The third-highest price paid was $140,000 for yet another 309CR with 444 hours at a Ritchie Bros. auction in Orlando, Florida, on February 24, 2022.

Editor's Note: Hour meter readings were missing for a 2017 Cat 308E2CR, a 2020 and 2022 Doosan DX85R-3, and a 2020 Hitachi ZX85USB-6.Equipment World; Data: Top BidIn total, 560 compact excavators were sold at auctions tracked by Top Bid during this time, with an average price of $39,713. (This does not include any units sold for less than $5,000.)

EDA, Top Bid and EquipmentWatch are owned by Randall Reilly, parent of Equipment World.