Repossessions of construction equipment dropped by 53 percent during the four quarters of 2004, according to Nassau Asset Management's NasTrac Quarterly Index, which tracks the top five repossessed capital assets. When all four quarters are averaged, the annual volume of construction repossessions declined 6 percent compared with 2003. This is another factor indicating that construction spending has strengthened and should continue in 2005, said Ed Castagna, senior executive vice president of Nassau. However, the value of repossessed equipment rose during the fourth quarter of 2004 - high-end equipment such as cranes and equipment seized from smaller companies “squeezed out of business by larger companies,” Castagna said - with a 131 percent increase.