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Anybody else noticed that vans are not selling at the moment? Or if they do sell then the prices are a fair bit lower than they were earlier in the year. I have been looking for a van for over three months and I have just been comparing prices between March this year and now - the drop is up to about 20%!! Also, if you do a caravan search on Completed Items on ebay, the amount of vans in the 9-6k. market that didnt even get a bid is really high.

There could be an abnormal combination of factors for the drop in van sales/prices. Added to Frank's explanation are the people who may be put off by the TV views of caravans half sunk in floods.  This raises aspects ranging from reluctance to risk such damage to personal property (including the van), to fears for personal safety, especially where small children are concerned.

On top of this, there are considerations encompassing economics, possibility of flooded vans already reaching the secondhand market, where the damage is not yet apparent, fluctuations in general interest in caravanning, and more.

To get a true picture of van sales and average prices, it is probably necessary to measure the average results over a 5 year period.

Bertie.

You are right about the five year thing Bertie.

I feel for anybody trying to sell a van just now though - might be best to hang on until next year if possible.

I have seen my fair share of flooded vans recently - I have been dealing with a guy who gets insurance disposal vans and he has showed me round a couple that are pretty much scrap value. I used to live close by the River Severn we cut our losses after the fourth serious flood - that familiar smell of flood water was not a welcome memory! Any internal parts below waist height were absolutely US!  

Talking of floods and the River Severn, stuhub, do you think that those camping sites which flooded are going to see a massive drop in customers?   Imminent threat of heavy rain or not, we are now looking for sites that are not near rivers or on low ground.  We used to worry about high, exposed sites because of strong winds, but high and exposed is now good.

Bertie.

To be fair the really bad flooding around Tewkesbury happened on the confluence of The Severn, The Avon & The Swilgate - where you get two large rivers like this so close together there is bound to be a problem with such a large volume of water in such a short space of time. I hope people will come back because the area needs a shot in the arm after a really bloody awful year. There are still restrictions on movement of livestock due to the perceived Foot & Mouth risk so there have been no local cattle markets in the area for a good few weeks now - this has a knock on affect on the economy.

What I fail to understand is the sheer amount of people who got caught out by the floods - the warnings (TV, Local Press and Radio (RDS)) started on Wednesday evening with an imminent risk and got gradually worse until Friday. I find it hard to get my head around the amount of people who were out and about when the rain finally started - maybe I am missing something. I have heard anecdotal evidence that insurance companies are trying to claim that people towing tourers were negligent due to the amount of warnings! - dunno how true that is!

Whilst feeling deeply sorry for the people hit by the floods, there is no way we would consider putting ourselves and/or our van at risk.  The water seemed to arrive inside a frighteningly short period, and I believe that those caravanners caught by it probably thought they had plenty of time if things began to look bad.

We are due to go to the C.C. Broadway site for Xmas and the New Year.  Today, news bulletins have indicated that the whole country is waterlogged, and there will be widespread flooding if we don't have a dry Autumn.   If there is any doubt nearer to the time, we will almost certainly cancel the Broadway visit. 

Bertie. 

We are on a park that is about 800 yards from the River Severn and although concerned we di not really have a problem.

As for people out and about I think this is a case of the weather people calling "Wolf" too often and subsequently getting ignored.  I don't think any one expected such a huge deluge in such a short space of time.

just sold my caravan about 10 days ago only 2 1/2 years old i think i got a fair price for it and the buyer was happy

second person thas seen it bought it travelled 180 miles to buy it

we had agreed a price over the phone and i gave him a chance to back out if he didnt like it

only had it advertised for one week

must have been my northern charm