Used cars, motorhomes, boats – everything that drives and sails has become considerably more expensive in the past two years. This is especially true for younger vehicles and vessels. Anyone who has one standing or laying around can now sell or trade it in for a good amount.
After the corona pandemic broke out in early 2020, the demand for cars increased rapidly as many people wanted to avoid public transport. Not much later, problems with the production of new cars arose on top of that.
As a result, the average asking price for a used car shot up. According to occasion platform AutoScout24, it has increased by more than a quarter since March 2020, to 23,808 euros.
The newer used cars are especially popular, says economist Rico Luman of ING. Between new cars and the same models that are one or two years old, the price difference is small. Anyone who has a ‘new second-hand’ can therefore receive a good price for it. “The car you buy back has also become more expensive,” said Luman. “But if you sell now and settle for a somewhat older car, that can be beneficial.”
Not dependent on aircraft
Other vehicles have also increased significantly in value, the economist knows. You see the same thing happening with trucks. According to traders, the stocks of young used trucks are small, and the prices for these are also close to the new prices. “And motorhomes are another very clear example.”
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The higher prices for motorhomes are mainly due to the fact that many people did not want to be dependent on plane or train during the pandemic. Anyone who now wants to sell their motorhome is in the right place, according to industry association Bovag. “It’s like houses,” the spokesperson said. “If you have something to sell and you don’t have to buy anything back, you’re a fat buyer.”
A similar picture on the boat market. Especially the brokers in more expensive boats have higher prices. They have trouble finding supply, says Reinier Steensma of the Water Recreation Advice bureau. “If you sell a boat now, you will get a fair price for it. It depends on what you have to offer. As far as recent boats are concerned, the offer is thin, but you can still find quite a few cheap ones on Marktplaats.”
At the beginning of the corona crisis, Doris Borghuis from Amsterdam bought a boat for three people from 2018 for 2,700 euros to try out sailing. She liked it so much that she bought a larger boat this spring for 6,500 euros. The little one is now selling them again. She hopes to get 2,500 to 3,000 euros for it via Marktplaats.
Interest is disappointing
For now, the interest is a bit disappointing. The highest offer she has received in two months is 2,100 euros. “I have the idea that the prices of boats are a bit lower now. Many people liked a boat at the time of corona, but from now on everything is possible again. I also think you have to find the right moment. It’s a bit of an impulse buy. When the weather got really nice, the bidding went really fast.”
A switch from a large shortage to a more normal supply, as Borghuis experiences, could also occur in the second-hand car market.
ING economist Luman expects the supply of new cars to increase next year. As a result, the range of occasions will grow again. He points out that the purchasing power of the Dutch is also under pressure due to high inflation. “Those two things together are reason to expect that prices will moderate somewhat. I think prices on the second-hand market will peak this year.” Which means 2022 is the year to start selling.
cars High demand, large shortages
Economist Rico Luman of ING observes a run on used cars. “People like to drive their own car and that has been reinforced during the pandemic,” he says. At the same time, the supply on the car market has fallen sharply, due to production problems as a result of the shortage of computer chips, among other things. Many employees with a lease car also drove fewer kilometers by working from home, so that they can use the car for longer. In addition, leasing companies allowed customers to continue driving for longer and introduced fewer cars to the used car market. As a result, an important supply line shrank. According to Luman, the used car market is now at a peak in terms of prices.
motorhomes Aging and corona impulse
Due to the aging population, campers also became more popular in the years before corona. The camper van is especially popular among retirees. “With corona, demand has received an extra boost because people did not want to travel by plane,” says a Bovag spokesperson. “That will now be no less with the vicissitudes at Schiphol.”
According to the trade association, the number of motorhomes has increased by almost 30 percent since the beginning of 2020, to more than 167,000. Sales numbers on the second-hand market rose by about 30 percent. So the demand is still high.
Boats Holiday maker continues to rediscover water
Water sports have been rediscovered during the corona pandemic. Where the number of boats in the Netherlands has been declining for years, the corona crisis brought about a turning point, says Reinier Steensma of the Water Recreation Advice bureau. “Tourism abroad has come to a standstill. There was a lot of danger in 2020 and that continued in 2021. The occupancy rate in marinas suddenly went up instead of down. We had not experienced that in 15 years.”
According to trade association Hiswa-Recron, 15 percent of boat owners in 2021 were newcomers and another 7 percent were ‘returners’ – someone who bought a boat again. According to the organization, 15,000 to 20,000 used pleasure boats are for sale, where it used to be between 40,000 and 60,000.
Steensma does not see any waning interest in water sports. “In 2020 it was said that all that junk would be for sale again a year later, but this is already the third year that we are rediscovering the Netherlands from the water.”
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of August 5, 2022