Used prices rising unabated

The average price of used cars has risen every week since May – and is continuing to rise.

The average price of a used car listed on Auto Trader was £15,025 in the week of 6 July, a 4.4% year-on-year increase.

The average price of a petrol car grew by 5.4% that week, having seen sustained growth for 19 weeks, while the average price of diesel cars grew 4.1%. Meanwhile, electric vehicle prices rose by 2.7% while prices of hybrid vehicles depressed by -1.6%.

The average prices of vehicles up to 15 years old also increased, with particularly pronounced rises in older categories; those aged between 10-15 years grew by 6.6% in the four weeks up to 13 July, compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, prices for five to 10-year-old cars grew by 4.9% and for cars aged three to five years the growth was 4.2%.

Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s director of data and insights, said: “It’s not just that prices are up right now; ever since retailers have been able to restart their sales, used car prices have seen sustained growth for more than 10 weeks and it’s clear this growth is accelerating. It’s imperative to consider all market factors when evaluating price. Price is driven by supply and consumer-driven demand, and although supply has been constrained with auction houses being slower to reopen since lockdown, they are returning to over 90% of pre-Covid-19 levels.

“Thanks to our massive audience share of car buyers and 64 million cross platform visits in June, we have a robust picture of consumer demand which outweighs supply greatly and there’s no signs of this slowing. Consumer confidence seems relatively robust too, with 82% saying they are ‘as confident’ or ‘more confident’ in being able to afford their next car than they were a year ago.”