Sales of Recreational Park Trailers Are Booming in 2003, According to the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association
ELKHART, Ind.--July 1, 2003--Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association:-- The smallest segment of the RV industry is growing, with large
and small manufacturers reporting record sales this year as
consumers increasingly seek affordable retreat cottages to
escape the stresses of city life
Although RV industry observers see a slight softening in demand for most categories of towable and motorized RVs this year, consumer demand for recreational park trailers is up, and it's fueling record sales and order backlogs for several Indiana-based companies.
Consider the following snapshots of recreational park trailer manufacturer performance:
| -- | Dutch Park Homes, Inc.: Sales by the Goshen-based company are running 20 to 25 percent ahead of last year's figures, according to company President Stu Holaway. |
| -- | Woodland Park, Inc.: The Middlebury-based company's sales are up 18 percent this year, compared to last year's figures, company President and CEO Ernie Yoder said. |
| -- | Breckenridge Division of Damon Corp.: Sales by the Nappanee-based company, the nation's largest manufacturer of recreational park trailers, are up 10 percent this year, according to company President and CEO Tim Howard. |
| -- | Trophy Homes: While the production capacity of this Elkhart-based custom park trailer company is limited by the size of its manufacturing facilities, the firm has experienced the biggest backlog of orders in the company's 32-year history, which company sales representative Roger Byce sees as a measure of the growing strength of the recreational park trailer business. |
Demand for recreational park trailers appears to be strongest in the Northeast, according to manufacturers, although sales are also increasing in the Midwest and across the Mid-Atlantic states as growing numbers of consumers catch on to the fact that recreational park trailers enable them to have a weekend or summer retreat cottage for a fraction of the price of a condominium or site built home.
"Do the math and you'll see why more and more people are discovering the merits of recreational park trailers," said William Garpow, executive director of the Newnan, Ga.-based Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA).
While condos or site-built vacation cottages in resort locations can easily cost two or three hundred thousand dollars or more, recreational park trailers cost under $50,000, with the average price being in the $33,000 range. Campsites, meanwhile, typically cost $3,000 or less for an entire season, including winter storage.
"It used to be that the majority of the recreational park trailer users were retirees," said Curt Yoder, vice president of Kropf Industries, Inc., in Goshen. "Now people say, 'I can buy one of these and put it where I want. Instead of buying that $300,000 condo on the lake, for under $50,000, I've got a vacation home.'"
It's an argument that makes a lot of sense to people like Nancy Brown, a 53-year-old Boston-based schoolteacher who recently purchased a Kropf Industries park trailer, which she uses as a summer retreat cottage at a campground in southern Maine.
"I would never stay in a trailer," Brown remembers thinking, adding that she had never camped in her life. But when she visited Seacoast RV's, Inc. in Saco, Maine, she quickly realized why record numbers of working professionals and retirees are driving up recreational park trailer sales in many areas across New England. Seacoast RV's has experienced some of the strongest growth, with year-to-date sales up 235 percent compared to last year's figures, according to dealership owner Linda Mailhot.
Many consumers are struck by the attractiveness of today's recreational park trailers. Unlike mobile homes, which are a form of low-cost, permanent housing, recreational park trailers are movable resort cottages that are designed exclusively for part-time recreational use. Typically upscale in appearance, they often include bay windows and lofts as well as walnut, oak or maple cabinetry.
"They're really lovely," Brown said of her unit, which includes a 20-foot sunroom and deck. "They're furnished very nicely and they're easy to maintain."
And in resort markets where real estate prices are skyrocketing, they're selling like hot cakes. "The demand is the best it's ever been," said Ron Robinson, owner of Yankeeland Campground in Kennebunk, Maine, which is already filled to capacity. "I turn away (people seeking seasonal sites) at least three or four times a week."
Another hot market is New Jersey, where all three major recreational park trailer dealers -- including Pleasant Acres Farm Campground in Sussex, Driftwood Camping Resort in Clermont, and Ocean View Trailer Sales in Ocean View -- all report strong demand for recreational park trailers.
Year-to-date sales of recreational park trailers are also up more than 50 percent at Lakeland RV Center in Milton, Wis., according to Assistant Sales Manager Bob Klug.
"We've got about all we can handle," said Curt Yoder, vice president of Goshen-based Kropf Industries, Inc., adding that this year's sales are consistent with last year's performance, which was among the strongest in the company's history.
Looking to the future, RPTIA predicts that nationwide recreational park trailer sales will increase by 50 percent during the next seven years as growing numbers of baby boomers seek more affordable weekend or summer retreat cottages. Sales will also be fueled by campground operators who either become dealers themselves or rent spaces to recreational park trailer owners as a way to diversify their income stream.
"If you really want to find out where park models sell," said Breckenridge President and CEO Tim Howard, "draw a two hour circle of driving time around any significant population center and find the lake in that area. People in big cities are getting suffocated, and we have the getaway cottage they need."
For more information on recreational park trailers, including high quality digital photos and a complete listing of recreational park trailer manufacturers, please contact William Garpow at (770) 251-2672 or visit the association's website at www.rptia.com.