According to James Appleton, the president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, "Used
cars are one of the last true commodity markets where supply and demand pretty
much dictate price." There's no place in the country where this is more
clearly demonstrated than in New Jersey. It's been an economically interesting
– which, yes, is a euphemism for 'straining' in this case – couple of years in
our state, what with NJ being one of the slowest states to recover from the
recession, the recovery from Hurricane Sandy, and the like. The state of the
used car market has definitely mirrored this economic rollercoaster.
That being said, if you're a New Jerseyan in the market for a used car,
now would be the time to buy it. During and in the immediate wake of the
recession, anyone who needed a car was buying used. Not many people had the
extra funds to spring for a brand new model and unemployment rates were peaking.
Due to the high demands, the prices at used car dealerships in South Jersey went up and
stayed there for quite some time. Now, though, we're creeping up on the one
year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy and the recession is behind us. Our state
has taken this time to recover, and it shows – the demand is now in the used
car market. That benefits those who prefer the pre-owned because the prices
have finally started to slump.
Bargain hunters are benefiting greatly from these lowered prices.
Business owners are finding themselves purchasing company vehicles such as vans
and pickup trucks at two to three thousand dollars cheaper than expected. The
used car industry is booming. It's a great sign for the New Jersey economy.
The decline of used car prices is a fairly recent breakthrough and the
prices could continue to drop, especially since the cost climb happened so
quickly. According to the National
Automobile Dealers Association, the average cost of a used automobile went up by
4.7 percent in 2009, 11.5 percent in 2010, and another 11.4 percent in 2012.
Only this year have they begun to slow down. Regardless, it's difficult to say
whether the price drop is temporary or if it will be sticking around for a
while, especially considered how many cars were lost in Hurricane Sandy.
Dealerships filed tens of thousands of insurance claims, and the need to recover
those vehicles could affect the price
once more. For that reason, economists are definitely suggesting that now is
the time for purchasing used vehicles.