BCA says there is further proof that the used market is settling back into a more typical seasonal pattern as its latest Pulse for September report shows a significant rise in values in the fleet and lease car values, with more modest increases in part-exchange and nearly-new values over the month.

The average used car value at BCA climbed £33 to £5,938 in September. Performance against CAP Clean rose more than two points to 98.34%.

BCA’s UK operations director Simon Henstock said: “Although September has not seen the big value rises that were typical of the pre-recession era, much of that was due to August being so strong, with many buyers seeking to acquire stock ahead of the anticipated September rush.“

Conversion rates improved 4.5% and strong demand means retail-ready cars can outstrip guide values, he said.

Year-on-year values remain behind by £279, and are likely to remain so for the rest of 2010.

Looking at the market sectors, fleet values rose by £376 (5.1%) to £7,711 in September – the largest monthly increase recorded in the past 12 months. Part-exchange stock rose £31 (1.2%) to £2,610. Nearly-new average values increased by £428 (2.2%­) to £19,410.

Fleet and lease saw values increase across volume (5.4%), budget (19%) and premium (2.4%) brands, suggesting that demand was broad-based and it was the product profile itself that was attracting the buyers.

Among part-exchange stock, most value growth was in premium brands, where values improved by 2%. Volume brands made a sub-1% improvement,and budget brands
fell 9.7%.