Used Heavy Equipment Prices Falling Faster Than Inventory: June 2026

If you have been waiting to buy a used wheel loader or crawler excavator, June’s numbers just made it more expensive to wait on. Inventory is finally filtering back into the market, but values are dropping faster than most buyers expected, and not all categories of machines are acting the same.

So here’s the breakdown, by category, with the numbers that really matter if you are buying, selling, or timing a fleet decision this quarter.

The Brief Overview

Used heavy-duty construction equipment, crawler dozers, excavators, wheel loaders, cranes, and motor graders, and saw inventory tick up 2.51% month-over-month in June, but it’s still down 10.15% compared to a year ago. 

Although more equipment is becoming available, overall supply remains well below last year’s level. The market is recovering, but inventories still haven’t returned to where they were in 2025.

Prices continued to decline even before inventory had fully recovered. Asking values were down 0.78% MoM and 3.49% YoY. Auction values fell harder, down 1.4% MoM and 2.46% YoY. All the trend lines for used heavy equipment are heading south right now.

Medium-duty equipment, skid steers, mini excavators, and loader backhoes tell a slightly different story. Inventory was up 2.16% M/M but still sits down a steep 15.25% Y/Y. 

But values are holding up reasonably well. Asking values are virtually unchanged (+0.19% M/M, -0.46% Y/Y), and auction values are only down marginally (-0.43% M/M, -0.3% Y/Y).

Why do wheel loaders stand out in the heavy-duty equipment market?

This month, wheel loaders are the most notable mover in the heavy-duty market, which is bad news for vendors.

Wheel loaders added inventory faster than any other heavy-duty category this month, yet they are still the furthest behind every year. This combination suggests that demand remained strong over the past year, leaving dealer inventories unusually low. The recent increase in listings indicates that supply is finally beginning to recover. 

Crawler excavators, meanwhile, are the category taking the biggest hit on price. They posted the largest Y/Y decline in both asking values (-4.66%) and auction values (-4.32%), even though they didn’t lead on inventory swings. 

Well, it is an important trend because which shows that pricing isn’t driven by inventory alone. Even without a significant increase in available machines, weaker buyer demand can still put downward pressure on prices. 

Medium-Duty Equipment: Inventory Recovering, Prices Holding Steadier

Medium-duty equipment presents a slightly different picture. Although inventory remains more limited than in the heavy-duty segment, pricing has stayed comparatively stable. 

Loader backhoes are the ones to watch here. A 25.19% Y/Y inventory drop is the steepest decline across both heavy- and medium-duty categories in this entire dataset. 

If you are in the market for a used backhoe, this is the tightest supply picture in the report, and it explains why medium-duty values overall are holding up better than heavy-duty: less available inventory keeps a floor under pricing even when broader demand softens.

Mini excavators are interesting because they are pulling in two directions at once: the strongest M/M asking-value gain in the medium-duty class but also the largest Y/Y auction-value decline. Short-term buyer interest looks solid; the longer trend still shows softening.

Heavy-Duty vs. Medium-Duty: Side by Side

Comparing the year-over-year data highlights how differently these two market segments are performing. 

Both segments are trending down across the board, but heavy-duty is losing value at a faster rate while medium-duty is losing supply at a faster rate. It’s an important distinction for anyone timing a purchase or a sale. The two markets aren’t moving in lockstep, even when they’re both technically down.

What This Signifies for Purchasing or Selling

This is a buyer’s opportunity if you are purchasing heavy-duty equipment, especially crawler excavators. 

Buyers are likely to have greater negotiating power than they did earlier this year, as equipment values are falling more quickly than inventory is recovering.  

Wheel loaders deserve particular attention because increasing inventory, combined with lower asking and auction values, suggests prices could soften further before reaching a stable level. 

You won’t get the same discount if you purchase medium-duty equipment. In particular, loader backhoes are facing a supply shortage, which has kept prices relatively stable even as the overall market declines. 

In this case, it makes more sense to move sooner rather than wait for a price reduction than it does in heavy-duty.

The best selling strategy depends on the type of equipment you own.  Wheel loaders and crawler excavators are experiencing the greatest depreciation; if you are holding either and don’t need to sell right away, it might be worthwhile to wait for the market to reach a bottom. 

In contrast, the relative value of loader backhoes and mini excavators is increasing, so if you were already thinking about moving them, now is a good time.

Looking at the Overall Market 

Across both the heavy-duty and medium-duty markets, most key indicators continue to show either declining or relatively flat performance.  

What’s different from earlier this year is the pace. Inventory is finally growing month-over-month in nearly every category, a sign that the market is working through the supply shortage that has defined the last year. However, the combination of improving inventory levels and falling equipment values is a trend worth monitoring closely. 

It signals demand is softening about as fast as supply is returning, not just a simple restocking story.

For buyers, that’s good news in the near term. For sellers, it’s a reason to be more selective about timing than the headline Inventory is Up number alone would suggest.

Looking for a specific machine? Browse MY-Equipment’s current inventory of used crawler dozers, excavators, wheel loaders, cranes, and motor graders, or get in touch with our team for a straight read on where a specific category’s pricing is headed.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more equipment offers and insights into the industry.