Used car prices continue to accelerate as demand soars

Prices soared by 4.6% in the first quarter of the year, according to DoneDeal. 

Car prices have risen over 75% compared to pre-pandemic times and prices show no sign slowing, according to a new report.

In the first quarter of this year, strong consumer demand saw prices grow by 4.6%.

This is in stark contrast to the final three months of 2022 when price inflation in the used car market hit a three-year low due to weak demand and a modest recovery in supply.

The 5.3% increase in the supply of cars during the same period was likely not enough to meet the growing demand, according to the DoneDeal Car Price Index.

The website found the increase in demand increased by 21% in January 2023 and 15.5% in February.

The increased demand is evident in the number of new car registrations with 58,107 new cars registered in the first three months of this year - up 16.5% on last year.

The first quarter of this year saw a surge in the stock of electric vehicles (EVs) on DoneDeal, almost triple the number of listings than any three-month period last year.

There were 9,303 new EV registrations in Ireland in the first quarter of the year, almost double that of the same period in 2022.

EVs and hybrids account for almost 45% of new cars registered in Ireland.

Imports have also seen an increase in the first quarter of 2023, up by 6.4% it marks the first annual increase since 2019.

Following Brexit, the number of used cars being imported from the UK has continued to fall reaching a new low of 32.7% down from 93.6% in the first quarter of 2020.