Used car values fell for the second month in a row in October marking a shift in the dynamics of the market which had seen unprecedented rises for many successive months.

BCA’s latest Pulse report shows that the overall average value for cars sold in October was £6,021 – a fall of nearly £200 compared to September – but still the fourth highest monthly figure recorded in over two years.

Unsurprisingly, values remain well ahead year-on-year by £1,278 (27%), highlighting just how strongly values have recovered in 2009.

While last month’s fall was largely due to a seasonal change in model mix at BCA as fewer high-value nearly-new cars and greater numbers of lower-value part-exchange cars were sold, market dynamics have driven the fall in October.

In fact, average values have fallen in two main product sectors – fleet and lease values fell by £234 to £7,616 (down 3%), while part-exchange values decreased from £2,672 to £2,585 – a fall of £88 or 3.3%. Nearly-new values increased by £1,060, although there was a shift in model mix towards higher value premium models that will have had an effect.

Performance against CAP fell quite sharply across the board from 99.87% of clean values for all stock to 95.48%.