The start of the year was light on surprises for the Canadian vehicle market as trends from the end of 2022 continued into 2023.
On the used front, inventory continued to decline MoM by 5.8%; however, inventory levels are still up 10.1% compared to where they were last year. Average listing prices for used vehicles continued to decline, although the rate slowed to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it -0.2% MoM, while prices are still up 6% YoY and a whopping 55.8% compared to pre-COVID measures. With more attractive vehicles moving faster, we’re continuing to see days-on-market increase, with January 2023 levels up 6.2% MoM and 25.3% YoY.
For new vehicles, we continued to see inventory levels improve, although the rate slowed to 0.7% MoM; while a faster rate would have been welcome, levels are still up 30.9% YoY. Frustratingly for consumers, the increase in inventory hasn’t begun to bring down average listing prices yet. The rate of increases is slowing, with prices up 0.4% MoM; however, they remain up over 36% compared to pre-COVID averages. Finally, the influx of new vehicles hasn’t helped to drop days-on-market, with MoM levels up 4.2% and YoY up 42.2% as consumers ponder high-priced vehicles in a challenging economic environment.
To learn more about the trends impacting vehicle inventory, download the January 2023 edition of the CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights Report.