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Used car sales were up by 12.6% month-on-month in February, but with average fleet car prices down by 9.4%, according to auction firm Aston Barclay.
The company also said it took two days fewer on average for cars to sell, suggesting dealers had returned to the market to replace sold stock.
However, it says this does not mean the market has returned to its pre-lockdown state, as dealers are preferring to fill spaces on forecourts rather than buy speculatively ahead of the planned reopening of showrooms on 12 April.
Aston Barclay said the reduction in prices had been in line with Cap HPI predictions, and added that prices are still higher than they were in the early months of last year.
It added that the number of cars sold had continued to increase during early March, which was starting to create a shortage due to the slow new car market meaning fewer pat exchange vehicles.
Aston Barclay managing director - customer Martin Potter said: "There are lots of new car orders in the pipeline particularly within the leasing sector, but many cars are experiencing four to six months between an order and delivery.
"Combined with a shortage of dealer part exchanges we are predicting a used car shortage once the market re-opens.
"There is likely to be a pent-up demand in April similar to when the market re-opened in June 2020. That spells good news for prices, but supply will take a few months before it catches up with demand.
"Dealer part exchanges will increase in line with the renewed retail activity once dealers are back open, but it will be Q3 before the volumes from fleets and manufacturers return back to full strength."
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