March auction sales of rental and construction equipment tracked by Rouse Asset Services averaged 5.2 percent higher than Rouse February Forced Liquidation Values (FLV) values. Rouse recorded 5,112 units that sold at 32 separate auction sales conducted across North America. The units represented a combined FLV (as of February 28th) of $158.2 million and generated $166.4 million of gross auction proceeds.
In other news from Rouse, the March Rouse Value Index for used equipment prices increased to 46.6, up 0.4 percent from February values. This is 7.7 percent higher than the prior peak period of 43.3 in April 2007, and 57.1 percent higher than prior trough period of 29.7 in June 2009. The Rouse Value Index measures the average Orderly Liquidation Values (OLV) for benchmark models across 14 major rental category indices on a monthly basis.
During January, achieved rental rates as measured by the Rouse Rate Index decreased 0.5 percent on average for the rental companies participating in the Rouse Analytics Rental Metrics Benchmark Service. Rates are up 2.6 percent relative to January 2014 and up 25.3 percent relative to January 2011. January physical utilization is down 3.9 percent from December.
