October’s van values have achieved a new high, with the average selling price reaching £4,909, according to Manheim’s latest analysis of the wholesale van market.

This is the highest recorded figure since Manheim began tracking values in 2007, and represents a remarkable increase of £659, or 15.5%, over the same month last year.

Compared to September, vans sold in October were two months older with 4,100 more miles on the clock. Despite this, October saw van values rise by £217 or 4.6%.

Additionally, the latest van market analysis reveals that a two tier pattern in respect of age may be re-emerging in the used van market, where the percentage of vans sold over 60 months of age is increasing.

In the case of car derived vans sold in October, 41% were older than 60 months (the average age of these was 96 months), whilst in small panel van the numbers were near identical at 41%, with an average age of 98 months.

More than a third (38%) of all large panel vans (over 3t) sold in October had an average age of 87 months, while 50% of 4x4s sold had an average age of 99 months.  

The consistent increase of van prices is driven by chronic stock shortages, which continue to create strong demand for all vans, irrespective of age, mileage and damage.

Manheim’s report supports this trend, showing that the volume of vans sold by a representative sample of vendors fell by 13% in October, compared to the same period in 2013.

Car derived vans

Looking at the market in more detail, Manheim reports that, in spite of a 7.4% increase in average mileage (to 76,001) and an influx of older vehicles (from 61 to 63 months), the value of car derived vans has remained remarkably resilient – falling by just 0.9% to £3,330 in October.

Large panel vans

Prices of large panel vans over three tonnes have risen by £312, to £5,647, since September. This strong value was achieved despite of the average age increasing by two months and the mileages shooting up by 6,437 (from 93,525 to 99,962) since September 2014.

Again suggesting that low volumes of stock are the root cause of the increasing prices, Manheim found that 38% of the large panel vans over three tonnes sold in October had an average age of 87 months and 120,140 miles.

Small panel vans

Following the trend of the large panel vans, small panel vans have also seen values creep up to £4,986, 5% higher than September. This again is in spite of the average van having a total of 86,366 miles, a mileage increase of 5,706 compared with the previous month. 

Matthew Davock, head of LCV at Manheim, csaid: “This October we’ve witnessed the highest average van sale price since our records began.

“There is an insatiable appetite for good quality stock. Coupled with the significant stock shortages, we’ve seen a steady increase in values for the last quarter, this looks likely to run until the end of the year and beyond.

“We’re also seeing a trend re-emerging of older, higher mileage vans in each major segment.

“Buyer attendance and activity has driven this performance. Online buyer log-ins are regularly exceeding 250 per auction and, when coupled to the 150 plus physical attendees, it’s no surprise to see conversion rates of 80% or higher.

“At a recent sale we broke the centre record with 71% of the vans on offer receive an online bid and 267 buyer logins. I’m not convinced that van de-fleet volumes will increase over the next 12 months, so this landscape is likely to remain the norm for some time to come.”

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