Retail prices of used cars dropped 0.7% in May, Auto Trader reports

Dealers are selling used cars more quickly than a year ago, perhaps reflecting the norms of stock depreciation, according to the latest Auto Trader data.

The car marketplace has found that in May 2024 the average days to sell was one day less than in May 2023, at 29 days. Within that, stock that was aged three to five years was sold in just 26 days on average, reflecting the high demand for the lower volume of cars that were first registered as the country learned of the emerging coronavirus pandemic.

Nevertheless, its data showed overall used car transaction volumes were up 6% in May.

The strong underlying health of the UK’s used car market mean that average retail prices have returned to seasonal trends, Auto Trader reports, with a 0.7% drop in month-on-month values recorded in May. 

Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s data and insights director, said: “We’ve seen a very robust used car market so far in Q2; retail prices are stabilising, demand is healthy, cars are selling quickly, and critically, transactions are above where they were last year. Any slight month-on-month softening in prices is entirely seasonal.

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