Latest report from DoneDeal suggests inflation slowed to 1.4% at the end of last year as supply increasedDoneDeal’s latest car price index noted the number of active listings on its website was up 19% when comparing the stock of active ads posted at the start of 2022, 'suggesting a slight recovery in supply'After several quarters of higher-than-expected inflation, price growth in the second-hand car market has eased as cost-of-living pressures curb demand.
A combination of undersupply and increased demand for used cars last year – driven by microchip shortages, Brexit and the outbreak of war in Ukraine – saw prices rise at an average quarterly rate of 4.7 per cent in the first nine months of 2022. However, the latest figures from car website DoneDeal suggests that price inflation slowed to just 1.4 per cent in the final quarter of last year, the lowest rate of inflation seen since the third quarter of 2019.
The company also reported a 17 per cent fall-off in the final quarter, which it said “largely is in tune with the observed slowdown in price inflation”. Despite the slowdown prices were still 69.7 per cent higher compared to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2020, and 16.2 per cent higher than a year ago.