Retail prices surged beyond seasonal averages, with Auto Trader’s latest data revealing a 3% year-on-year (YoY) increase in used car transactions in August 2024.
This performance underscores a strong consumer demand that remained unaffected by the Olympic events dominating the month, Auto Trader stated.
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The surge in retail prices averaged £16,316 ($21,401), marking a significant improvement from a decline of 0.8% and 0.4% in the same month in 2023 and 2019, respectively.
Since 2011, August has typically seen a 0.5% price decrease, making the current trend noteworthy.
The market is experiencing a pronounced imbalance with a 5.3% YoY decrease in the volume of advertised used cars, the most significant contraction in over a year.
Consumer demand, which rose by 7.3% YoY in August, is offsetting reduced supply, contributing to the market’s stability and profitability.
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By GlobalDataAuto Trader’s Market Health metric, a measure of supply and demand dynamics, reflected an increase from 8.2% in July to 13.3% YoY last month.
The speed at which used cars are selling also indicates a healthy market, with the average time to sell being just 28 days in August, one day faster than in July and three days quicker than the previous year.
The nuanced market dynamics suggest that consumer demand for used petrol cars increased by 7.4% in August, with a corresponding supply contraction.
This resulted in a 15.9% rise in Market Health for petrol cars and an average price of £14,681.
Meanwhile, demand for used electric vehicles (EVs) soared by 49% YoY, but a similar increase in supply, up 45.3% from last year, led to a modest 2.3% increase in Market Health.
EV prices averaged £26,736, with a slight month-on-month decrease of 0.3%.
A closer look at the data reveals that 3-5-year-old electric cars are performing well, with consumer interest up 132.3% YoY.
Auto Trader data and insight director Richard Walker said: “We’re well into the second half of the year now, and it’s very reassuring to see the used car market continue to maintain its momentum.
“Despite potential distractions over the last few months, not least the Olympics and the Euros, we’ve not seen any impact on consumer appetite for used cars; demand remains robust, and cars are selling at pace, and so our outlook for the closing months of 2024 remains very positive.”
