Arizona 2020: Total Sales Steady, But Warning Signs Abound

There are now eight collector car auctions here in January, and rumor has is it one or two more are on the way.

This year, the action set no new directions; it merely confirmed what we've been harping on for all of 2019 - the action gets hotter the lower you go in the market. And if there was hope for some signs of life at the top going into this year's events, they were quickly dashed.

Every single one of the eight sales conducted between January 10th and January 19th saw a significant reduction in million-dollar cars, the "middle" of the market, vehicles selling in the $150,000 to $1 million range, were also struggling. Below that level things brightened, especially as you go below $50,000. Some of this strength undoubtedly comes from vehicles that have fallen into this category over the last several years, but much of it comes from the bottom up, with basically anything with a pulse, a pulse, and a price tag under $20,000 moving quickly.

Big ticket items were pretty scarce this year, and many of those were late model exotics such as this Ferrari F50.

Leake Auctions, now backed by giant heavy equipment auction specialist Ritchie Brothers, made their debut this year.

Leading the eight auction houses in sales and with the top selling car was Gooding. In their new venue slightly closer to Scottsdale Road this year (half a block), they had 122 out of 137 lots sell for an 89% sell-through rate. Not only did their $38.8 million in sales lead the pack, the 1995 Ferrari F50 on their docket hammered for $2.925,000, becoming the top of the class for Arizona 2020. Their next two sales were also tops in their categories for the weekend. A 1938 Hispano-Suiza J12 Dual Cowl Phaeton sold for $2.2 million (the top sale of a Full Classic) and a 1948 Tucker 48 sedan brought $1,850,000 as the top sale of an American made car.

Next up was RM Sotheby's at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Convention Center in Phoenix. They had a ninety-percent sell-through rate with 128 out of 143 lots changing hands. With $30.3 million in sales, their high sale was a 2018 Pagani Huayra Roadster thathammered for $2.15 million.

Bonhams continued to be a one-day auction, held on Thursday at the Kierland Westin resort in northern Scottsdale. At $8.4 million in sales and an 81% sell through rate from 88 lots (out of 108 lots offered), a decline of almost half from last year. Their high sale was a 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter convertible, selling for $1,750,000.

The final catalog auction house was Worldwide, who relocated slightly to the southeast of last year's venue to Singh Meadows in Tempe. They may have been the first of the catalog auction houses to sell cars, but they also had the fewest amount. With only 55 cars on the docket, 42 were sold for a 76-percent sell-through and $6.1 million in sales. Topping all of them was a 1936 Auburn 852SC Speedster, that hammered at $800,000. Still, there average sale was quite respectable compared to the other auctions here.

Moving on to the atypical American cattle-auction style events, the biggest milker was once again Barrett-Jackson. Pity the auctioneer there who had the one no-sale, as a record 1,909 cars crossed the block over seven days of auction. While their top two sales were for cars that weren't even built yet but were for charity (the first 2020 Chevy Corvette, bringing $3 million and the first 2020 Lexus LC500 that garnered $2 million), the highest actual sale of a real consigned car was one of two 2017 Ford GT's consigned here. The first example sold for $1,350,000 while the other one earned the fourth highest sale honors here at $1,075,000. So much for depreciation for a three-year-old used car. When all was said and done, they had generated $137.1 million in sales.

The first auction house to actually sell cars wasn't B-J, but rather newcomer MAG Auctions. While the name is new to the Valley of the Sun, MAG had acquired what was left of the failed Silver Auctions Arizona, returning it to the P83 Sports Complex in Peoria. Having the first car to sell in the series of auctions on Friday, January 10th, they were done before B-J had their first car on the block on Monday afternoon. Only 98 of the 328 consignments sold, for a 30-percent sell-through rate and $1.8M in sales. Their top sale was a stellar 1968 Shelby GT-500 KR fastback that hammered at $155,000.

Several of the cars that were at MAG made their way across town to the new kid on the block, Leake Auctions. Having bumped Russo and Steele out of their former location at Talking Stick Fields (which we understand is still in litigation), the collector car auction arm of multi-national auction giant Ritchie Bros. made short work of filling up the venue with 674 cars; helped in no small part by selling the massive John Staluppi "Cars of Dreams" collection. By the time they were done on Sunday afternoon, 357 of those cars were sold, for a 53-percent sell-through and $16.6 million in the coffers. Topping all of those cars was a 2012 Lexus LFA coupe that sold for $390,000. All ten of the top sales here were from the Staluppi's stable.

Last, but not least, was Russo and Steele. They celebrated their twentieth anniversary on their original piece of dirt at the 101 Freeway and Scottsdale road (a better spot anyway we feel, as they were closer to more of the auction houses and were more accessible). They generated $8 million in sales from 251 out of 513 lots selling, for a sell-through rate of roughly 50%. The top sale proved to be a post block sale of a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL cabriolet, at $950,000. The post-block desk was their best ally, as the second highest sale was also generated in that manner.

 

While overall sale totals were steady, it required a big jump in lots to get there, with average and median prices taking a big hit. Pre 1990 lots did even worse.