The average price of a used car sold at auction rose by 16.7% year-on-year in February, according to The National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA) car auction data.

The report showed that first time conversion rates increased by 3.7% to 85.3% from January as the average selling value increased 6.2%, from £5,542 to £5,884 from the previous month, and 16.7% from last February’s figure of £5,041.

Average mileage was down by 1.7% to 64,611 from January, and was down by 3.3% on the same period last year, meanwhile.

Louise Wallis, head of NAMA said that auction activity had “remained buoyant in February”, indicating that retail activity is still strong.  

She added: “In general, feedback received within the market revealed some frustration among buyers as stock levels made it more difficult to buy the desired level of stock.”

NAMA’s data indicated that the first time premium was -£43, an 81.4% decline on January’s figure of -£231.

Wallis added: “It will come as welcome news that more stock is expected to hit the wholesale channels as a result of the March plate-change, but buyers should be aware that as seen in previous years, it can take until the third week of the month before this stock hits significant volumes.”