Used car prices hit new record highs in some sectors during October, including the fleet sector, according to remarketing firm Aston Barclay.
It said the average fleet sale price rose by £104 to reach the new record level of £11,757.
A new record was also reported in the late and low 0-24-month-old sector, up by £101 to £16,484.
There was also an increase in 55-78-month-old car values, up by £711 to £7,682, which Aston Barclay attributed to dealers rushing to buy stock that falls into the £10,000-£12,000 price bracket.
The firm said that the average price of electric and hybrid vehicles also reached a record high, up by £633 to £14,660, however it cautioned that the number of these cars sold was down, and said many failed to sell due to looking expensive compared with equivalent petrol and diesel cars.
Aston Barclay said it expected prices for hybrids and EVs to gradually fall over the coming months, and also said the underlying trend for the overall market is of conversion rates and prices falling on the back of the second coronavirus lockdown in England.
The firm said that the market had started to return to some sort of normality, but that predicting demand and prices at each sale was becoming more difficult.
Aston Barclay managing director – customer Martin Potter said: “Many franchised dealers will be replacing sold stock during the second lockdown, something which didn’t happen during the first lockdown as only independents were buying cars.
“Overall, we feel prices will remain healthy into 2021 as new car waiting times increase forcing ex-business and personal leasing contracts to be extended well into 2021.
“Repossessions are also now not likely to reach the market until Q2 which will help keep overall used stock volumes under control and prices steady during the first half of the year.”