8:15 am, August 1, 2023
Used car prices remained stable last month as dealers avoided a major summer drop-off.
Data collected as part of eBay Motors Group’s latest Market View report found that overall prices were down just 0.6 per cent to £18,151 in the seventh month of the year.
The figures were taken from the firm’s Motors.co.uk platform, which has seen prices drop by only four per cent since January.
Overall, the pricing data is tracking at 11 per cent higher than the same point last year, according to eBay’s experts.
Analysts found that, despite prices remaining high, dealers did experience rising days-to-sell time. The figure rose from 36 days in June to 39.5 in July, with the slump largely put down to usual seasonal trends.
Elsewhere, dealer stock volumes for the month remained consistent at 55 units – down from 56 in both June and last July.
When it came to fuel types, the cost-of-living crisis saw buyers turn increasingly to petrol cars as electricity prices remain stubbornly high.
Petrol accounted for more than half of all stock volumes (53 per cent), resulting in month-on-month declines for diesel, hybrid and electric.
Buyers weren’t discouraged by rising prices, which saw petrol cars increase by 0.3 per cent to £17,400, while demand for older models triggered a four per cent rise for cars aged over 10 years old to £7,302.
Among the fastest-selling used cars of the month was the Audi A1, with petrol examples aged over five years old selling in just 12 days.
Lucy Tugby, marketing director of eBay Motors Group, said: ‘Despite some punchy pricing, used petrol cars were the star performers for dealers in July.
‘When it comes to fuel choice, we can see how buyers are factoring in rising living costs and choosing what they know best.
‘For many, this means holding off transitioning to electric or hybrid and buying petrol cars – a decision made easier by recent pump price drops.
‘Although days-to-sell increased in July, we saw strong levels of buyer interest during the month.
‘Our consumer insight panel research shows that nearly a third of buyers plan to change their cars as a result of a UK staycation, rising to nearly half planning on driving to Europe for their holidays, so this activity suggests buyers are putting these plans into action.’
