June sees largest used car price growth since January 2019

04 July 2020 | David Young

Auto Trader's Retail Price Index recorded a 3.7% year-on-year increase in June, the largest monthly growth in used car prices since January 2019

June sees largest used car price growth since January 2019

The index is based on observed pricing data from circa 900,000 vehicles every month, this took the average price of a used car in June to £13,949.

June, the first full month of trading post lockdown for retailers in England, marks the third consecutive month of used car price growth, following the 0.1% and 1.9% recorded in April and May respectively. As well as the low supply of vehicles in the market (due in part to the slow reopening of auction houses post lockdown), this price growth reflects the huge surge in demand from car buyers. The Auto Trader marketplace recorded over 64 million visits last month, an increase of 29% on June 2019.

There were also interesting trends in price driven by the age of the vehicle, with older cars seeing bigger increases. In June, the average retail price of a car aged over 10 years increased 6.7% over the previous year, and those aged five to 10 years increased 7.0% year-on-year. Newer cars aged below five years recorded a more conservative growth of 3% year on year.

Auto Trader June 2020

Commenting on these observations, Auto Trader's director of data and insight, Richard Walker, said: "At Auto Trader, our valuations are based on observed price data from retailers. We don't control it or set it, we simply reflect retailer pricing and ultimately, retailer reaction to market supply and demand trends. We're seeing strong pricing trends at the moment driven by the surge in consumer demand post lock-down and we expect this to continue in the coming months."

Source: Auto Trader