The Australian new car market has re-written file books in three of the previous 4 months, as long-overdue deliveries begin to roll off the ships and into buyer driveways.

That is tied in to a marked enhance in used car inventory on seller tons, which ought to exert extra downward stress on costs.

In keeping with car knowledge and re-marketing agency Cox Automotive Australia, the variety of used and demonstrator car listings at sellers in its database is up greater than 30 per cent in 2023 to this point, in addition to up 22.5 per cent over the identical level in 2022.

The Cox Automotive knowledge isn’t the one data exhibiting worth cooling within the second-hand market. Monetary intelligence firm Moody’s Analytics reported lately general used car costs are 2.2 per cent decrease than July and 11.3 per cent decrease than a 12 months in the past.

The agency discovered used car costs are additionally 15.2 per cent decrease than their peak in Could 2022, nevertheless, they’re nonetheless 49 per cent greater than the pre-COVID degree in August 2019.

The sample suggests extra non-public patrons and fleets are taking supply of their overdue autos, and trading-in or wholesaling older inventory which enters the pre-owned market in search of its subsequent proprietor.

Cox Automotive’s Value Index, which tracks the value modifications of used autos over time, sat at 141.1 factors as of August 31. This implies the typical worth of used automobiles is 41.1 per cent higher than the ‘base interval’ of December 2019 – simply earlier than COVID modified the market.

Whereas nonetheless inflated, this index is down round 5 per cent from its August 2022 excessive level, and down 4.2 per cent over this 12 months. The identical knowledge additionally exhibits greater than 40 per cent of sellers diminished the value of a used car itemizing no less than as soon as, and by a mean of seven.1 per cent.

One other factor the info exhibits us is later-model or newer used autos are promoting at comparatively much less inflated costs than older inventory, which stays in shorter provide and better demand as extra of the inhabitants tighten their belts resulting from ratcheting cost-of-living pressures.

Second-hand SUVs aged beneath two years are on common 19.7 per cent dearer than the identical kinds of auto have been simply earlier than COVID (119.7 on the value index), whereas these aged 2-4 years are nonetheless 31.1 per cent greater than pre COVID, these aged 5-7 years are 35.1 per cent dearer, and people aged 8-10 are on common 40.3 per cent dearer.

The identical patterns are evident on passenger autos and pickups too: the older the car, the upper its worth index. The higher worth is to be discovered on later-model used automobiles the place’s there’s extra provide and fewer demand.

Whereas not as public dealing with, the identical Cox Automotive Australia knowledge additionally seems to be on the firm’s Manheim wholesale auctions, which promote a whole lot of former company, authorities and rental fleet autos to sellers who use them to populate their used automotive tons.

Manheim says it recorded quantity development in August of 15.6 per cent over July and 29.4 per cent year-on-year, for its finest consequence since March 2021. Its wholesale worth index is down 12.7 per cent from the Could 2022 peak.

So whereas wholesale used car costs stay excessive, they’re coming down which implies sellers must be charging much less for them in flip.

By way of used EVs, resale values stay a priority resulting from a variety of components together with purchaser scepticism over battery well being, authorities rebates and tax breaks that target new autos, and early adopter desire for the most recent expertise in a fast-iterating section.

The pattern measurement of second-hand EVs stays small, given uptake on the brand new facet solely spiked in 2021 and these autos are but to trickle into the pre-owned market at scale. Simply 0.5 per cent of dealer-used listings within the Cox Automotive knowledge are an EV or PHEV.

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