PHOENIX — A new study shows affordable used cars are vanishing in Phoenix.
Used cars costing less than $20,000 in Phoenix dropped from more than 50% in 2019 to 14.4% in 2023, according to an iSeeCars study.
The study compared used car prices from the first seven months of 2019 to the first seven months of 2023.
"The bad news is that they've gone up as much or more than we would have predicted," Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said.
The average cost for a used car in Phoenix is $33,741, according to iSeeCars.
Brauer said COVID-19's impact on the supply chain of new cars was a driving factor in the nearly 50% increase.
"It wasn't like, you know, a couple weeks or a couple months," Brauer said. "This was years that this was in the making that you couldn't get enough new cars produced."
Until last year, Brauer said people selling their used cars benefited from this trend. He said that's starting to change.
"We've come off the highs. So, you can't get more money than you paid for your car... like you could for '21, '22," Brauer said.
The trend is starting to reverse as Brauer said the supply chain issues are nearly fixed.
He predicts prices won't fall fast.
"It's like a dam that had water building up behind it for years. Even if you start to pull the lever to release the dam, it's going to take a long time, you know, a couple years again to get that water level back down," Brauer said.
Analysts encourage anyone looking for a new or used car to research the best deals before buying.
"Even if you have to buy a car that isn't necessarily a great deal, it's going to be a better deal than it was a year ago," Brauer said.
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