Used car prices surged in August, defying seasonal trends in Olympics year

Retail prices for used cars exceeded seasonal expectations in August, driven by robust consumer demand in the market, according to the latest data from Auto Trader.

Despite Olympic fever sweeping the nation in a month that is typically slow, interest in used cars remained high, with transactions increasing by approximately 3% year-on-year.

At an average of £16,316, prices decreased, albeit marginally by -0.1% on a month-on-month (MoM), and like-for-like basis, much ahead of the -0.8% drop recorded in August last year, and the -0.4% in 2019.

In fact, ahead of the pandemic, and stretching back to 2011 when Auto Trader began tracking used car prices across the market, prices have typically softened circa -0.5% in August.

Prices are being affected by the favourable imbalance in supply and demand dynamics across the market. Indeed, in August the volume of used cars being advertised softened -5.3% YoY, which is the fifth consecutive month of contraction, and the steepest fall since July last year.