Lots has happened in the RV industry recently and things are going to continue changing rapidly. This article will break down the most important RV market trend info for 2023 and give you some info on the RV industry outlook and RV sales forecast 2024.
First, let’s take a quick look at RV market trends we’ve seen in 2023 so far. These bits of information can be helpful if you’re looking to dive into the world of RVing, want to sell your rig, or just want to know what to expect while out camping.
RV factories have been playing catch up for the past couple of years, and it seems they’ve finally made it. RV supply has caught up to (and even surpassed) the demand and it is once again possible to buy a new RV off the lot.
At the same time, RV sales have dropped significantly. According to RVIA, there has been a 50% decrease in RV sales in 2023, something many are calling an RV market crash. We disagree with this though, as it looks to us as if sales are simply returning to pre-pandemic levels.
RV Sales have slightly decreased in recent years!
With more supply and less demand comes lower prices. At least that’s what we’d like to think, and it has proven to be sort of true. RV prices have dropped very slightly in 2023. Unfortunately for buyers (and fortunately for sellers), the average price drop is only around 3% and this is far from what we’d expect based on other market conditions.
While the pandemic brought a whole new collection of RV enthusiasts on the scene, it also brought in a lot of people who were looking for an escape, purchased an RV in order to escape, and learned that RV travel really wasn’t for them. The result? Lots of barely used RVs are turning up for sale.
In 2023, we have seen a huge number of those pandemic RV purchases turn up on the market, making it a good year to find the perfect gently used rig.
Inflation was out of control in 2022 when we saw a sickening 6.5% inflation rate. Fortunately, this has slowed quite a bit in 2023 and is currently sitting around 3.3%. Gas prices have gone down slightly, making RV travel more affordable, but housing is still very expensive and grocery prices haven’t come down.
With the explosion of pandemic RVers on the road came a serious shortage of campsites. People who had been staying at the same campgrounds for years found that they had to look elsewhere because their favorite spots had all been booked far in advance. Meanwhile, those who once enjoyed spontaneous travel had to start making more solid plans in order to have a place to stay each night of their trip.
The good news? Campsites are starting to be easier to find. That said, reservations are still necessary when visiting during busy times.
One of the many things that remains permanently altered due to the pandemic? The number of people who work from home. Many companies saw the benefits of allowing employees to do their work from home during the lockdowns, and after having success with this arrangement, a large number of these companies have chosen to continue allowing the option.
This fact, coupled with the number of new RVers who have fallen in love with RV travel, has resulted in full-timing becoming more popular than ever. Add in the fact that some are using RV living as a way of saving money as the cost of housing continues to remain high, and boom, you have unprecedented numbers of full-timers.
Electric RV’s have been introduced!
Rising fuel costs are a major bummer for the avid RVer. Another big pain in the neck? The RV parts shortages that came to a head in 2022. These shortages made RV repairs impossible in many cases, and wait times to have your RV serviced were sometimes unbelievably long. Sometimes, the lack of parts and inability to have repairs made could mean not using your RV for months at a time, something no RVer wants to deal with.
The good news? While there is still a shortage of some parts, we are slowly seeing the parts shortage ease up.
One of the coolest things that happened in the world of RVing in 2023? Electric RVs were introduced.
The Lightship RV is an all electric trailer with a variety of awesome, eco-friendly features. This trailer can actually propel itself using electricity, so no extra gas is used to tow it and it can actually be towed by an electric vehicle without any loss of range.
Electric motorhomes were also announced and while they won’t be available as soon as the Lightship, they are coming!
Wondering about the RV market forecast? While we can’t read the future, we do have some pretty good predictions for the coming months. Here’s our RV industry outlook 2024.
While RV sales dropped off quite a bit in 2023, RVIA predicts that shipments will increase a bit in 2024. No, we won’t make it back to the record sales we saw in 2021, but the RV sales forecast 2024 looks pretty good, which makes sense considering the interest the younger crowd seems to have in the RV lifestyles these days.
While RV prices haven’t dropped as much as we would have thought based on the current market conditions, we do expect they will continue to drop slowly and slightly for the rest of 2023 and into 2024. That said, because so many people have a newfound love for RVing, we may not ever see pre pandemic RV prices again.
While inflation is definitely lower than it was in 2022, it still isn’t down to the 2% target put out there by the Fed. Most economists agree that this target will not be met in 2023, but some predict it will be met by mid-2024, something that could help give RV sales that little boost we mentioned above.
RVing is going to remain a popular way to travel and enjoy time with family and friends and that means campgrounds will continue to be busy. You will absolutely want to keep making reservations in advance, especially when visiting popular destinations or camping during the summer months and on weekends.
As we mentioned above, full time RVing has been forever changed by the pandemic. We don’t see the popularity of this lifestyle tapering off in 2024 and if housing prices remain high, we could see even more people taking up the full time RV lifestyle in order to save some money while enjoying a great way of life.
As we finish out 2023 and head into 2024, we are going to see those RV parts shortages fade away. Factories are back in full swing and have caught up with their backlog, so inventory should be back to normal within the year. This is great news for those of us who don’t like waiting around to make RV repairs!
Full-time RVing is as popular as ever!
Those electric RVs we mentioned before? At least one of them is scheduled to be on the market in 2024.
We predict that this new, eco-friendly RV option will invite the most eco-conscious individuals out there to join in the fun, potentially increasing the number of RVers on the road. Electric RVs will also make it more cost effective to travel long distances, which could make cross-country trips a more popular vacation option. We may also see the way campgrounds handle electricity usage change as the number of electric RVs and electric cars on the road grows.
As you can see, many things changed in the RV industry in 2023 and things are likely to continue to evolve come 2024. What change do you predict we’ll see?