9:05 am, September 2, 2024
The Porsche Cayman saw the biggest price rise of any used car in August as dealers enjoyed a month above and beyond what they would normally expect in the height of summer.
That is according to new data from Auto Trader, which has released its latest retail price index figures for the eighth month of the year.
The report found that strong underlying customer demand meant that retail prices were higher than expected in August, despite there being an Olympic Games to take consumers’ attention away.
The number of transactions rose by around 3% on the same point last year, despite the number of cars being advertised dropping by 5.3%.
Meanwhile, compared to July, the average price of a used car dropped by 0.1% to reach £16,316. The figure represents a smaller August drop off than in previous years.
This time last year, Auto Trader reported a 0.8% decline, while the last pre-pandemic year of 2019 saw a 0.4% slide. Since 2011, used car prices have typically softened by around 0.5% in August.
Auto Trader’s experts say that prices are currently being impacted by a ‘favourable imbalance in supply and demand dynamics across the market’.
In good news for retailers, Auto Trader reported a 7.3% rise in customer demand, with a whopping 82m visits to Auto Trader last month, flying in the face of a falling number of adverts.
When it came to days-to-sell, used cars flew off the forecourts in an average of 28 days last month – one day faster than in July and a whole three days faster than in August last year.
Cayman leads the way as EVs endure another torrid month
Looking at which used models saw the biggest price rises last month, the Porsche Cayman came out on top, according to Auto Trader’s data.
The sports car had an average asking price of £31,762 in August, up 2.3% on both July and the same point last year.
The German favourite was followed by the likes of the Suzuki Jimny, BMW M5 and Kia Picanto, in a top ten featuring used cars from several different sectors.
On the flip side, the list of the biggest droppers was dominated by EVs, despite overall demand for electric cars rising by 49% year-on-year.
Experts have put the result down to a 45.3% rise in supply of EVs, which is helping to keep prices down.
The top 10 list included the likes of the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model 3, Audi e-tron and Nissan Pulsar, as well as the Vauxhall Corsa-e and Citroen e-C4.
With consumer demand for used petrol cars rising 7.4% in August, experts say the current state of the used car market remains ‘incredibly nuanced’.
Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s data & insights director, said: ‘We are well into the second half of the year now, and it’s very reassuring to see the used car market continue to maintain its momentum.
‘Despite potential distractions over the last few months, not least the Olympics and the Euros, we’ve not seen any impact on consumer appetite for used cars; demand remains robust, and cars are selling at pace, and so our outlook for the closing months of 2024 remains very positive.
‘As ever the market is incredibly nuanced, and so whilst at a high level it’s performing well, a deep dive into the data really does reveal some very strong pockets of profit potential.
‘I’d urge retailers therefore to use the tools and insights available to discover these gems for your forecourts.’
Away from retail prices, it was also a good month for the trade sector in August, with Cap HPI reporting just a 0.6% slip.
You can see our full chat with the firm’s director of valuations, Derren Martin, here.
