The March edition of the “Automobile Market Outlook” report by sahibinden.com has been released. According to the report, while demand for second-hand cars increased compared to both the same period last year and the previous month, the trend of declining real prices continues.
Prepared by BETAM (Bahçeşehir University Center for Economic and Social Research) based on listings on sahibinden.com, the report analyzes the overall condition of the used car market.
Increase in Demand
- Demand Index for cars rose by 5.3% compared to March 2023 and by 11.8% compared to February 2024.
- The market activity indicator, measured by the ratio of sold cars to listed cars, increased by 1.4 percentage points, reaching 21.3% in March.
This growth came from:- A 5.5% increase in the number of listings (from 949,629 to 1,002,329).
- A 13.1% increase in the number of cars sold (from 188,599 to 213,363).
Market Activity Indicators
- The average time listings stayed online—called “closed listing age”—rose slightly by 0.4 days to 21.3 days, indicating a small slowdown in how quickly cars are being sold.
Real Prices Keep Falling
- When adjusted for inflation, the real average sales price of cars has been decreasing for 21 consecutive months.
- In March, the real price index dropped by 2.1% from February, reaching a level of 147.2.
- The yearly change in real prices, which had reached +48% in May 2023, has since dropped continuously to -41.4% in June 2024, before starting to recover slightly.
As of March 2025, the annual decrease stood at -19.9%.
Nominal (Listed) Prices Are Still Rising
- Despite real price declines, average listed car prices continue to rise.
- February 2025: 947,152 TL
- March 2025: 950,515 TL
- This represents a 10.6% increase compared to March 2024.
Demand Recovery Since November
After a downward trend that began in November 2024, car demand rebounded in March.
This upward trend in the demand index signals a more active second-hand car market, even as adjusted prices (considering inflation) continue to drop.
