NADA Used Car Guide: Wholesale Prices Remain Strong in June

MCLEAN, VA -- July 15, 2014: Strong demand for used automobiles in June helped to keep NADA's seasonally-adjusted used vehicle price index essentially unchanged at 126.4, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Used Car Guide's July edition of Guidelines, a monthly report on new and used vehicle sales trends and price movement.

Prices of used vehicles up to eight years in age fell by 2.4% compared to May, a figure in line with NADA's forecasted decline of 2-to-2.5%.

Lately, depreciation across segments has followed a familiar pattern, where declines for subcompact and mid-size cars overshadowed the overall market average, while losses for large pickups and SUVs were below the industry mean.

Subcompact and mid-size cars were the two biggest moving segments on the non-luxury side of the market; collectively the two fell by 3.1% in June. Over the past three months, prices for these two car segments have fallen by an average of 6.7%.

Overall, wholesale prices over the first half of the year were stronger than what was recorded for the period last year, and as a result, prices year-to-date are 2.8% higher than they were last year through June.

Prices for large pickups remain nearly 12% over last year's level, and the segment continues to lead others by a wide margin. Year-to-date growth for large SUVs, mid-size utilities and vans has also been significant, with prices up by 5–7%.

NADA's forecast for July and August has changed little from June's edition of Guidelines. Depreciation is expected to slow to a rate of approximately 1% in July with car depreciation again outpacing that of trucks, especially on luxury models. Losses for cars are expected to exceed 1%, while truck depreciation is forecasted to be under this figure. Large pickup and SUV prices are anticipated to be flat-to-up slightly.