The used car market in the Hunter Region has been at its strongest in 30 years, but this fast pace was easing due to the Greater Sydney lockdown, industry insiders say.
Used car prices have surged by up to 35 per cent in the past year due to market forces related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Global car makers shut factories early in the pandemic, leading to limited supply of new cars.
Car sales remained strong, though, with people wanting to avoid public transport or spend their money on motor vehicles instead of international travel.
New Lambton Auto Centre director Mark Chalhoub said he had "never seen the market so strong in 30-odd years in the industry".
"Since the pandemic, the market has been crazy," Mr Chalhoub said.
"It comes down to supply and demand. You can't get new cars for six to 12 months in some brands," he said.
Before the pandemic, the Carsales website was advertising about 260,000 motor vehicles "at any given point of time, or within 5000 of that range".
"When the pandemic hit, for six to eight months the available cars for sale on Carsales dropped down to 126,000 to 128,000," he said.
Mr Chalhoub said his company had been selling 40 or 50 used cars a month before the pandemic, but this soared to 70 to 80 cars.
"I can supply no problem, although it's a little harder to find a good car, which is what I strive for," he said.
"Up to June 30, every phone call or second phone call was a sale. The phones were ringing red hot. I'm not just talking in Newcastle, I'm talking everywhere."
He even sold a car to a customer living west of Alice Springs. It cost $2500 to transport the vehicle.
"I had a particular car in stock that a customer wanted. Away it went. We're selling cars all over Australia."
Sales in July, however, returned to normal levels - 40 to 50 cars a month. He attributed this to the Greater Sydney lockdown.
"I don't think the end of the financial year had anything to do with it," he said.
Newcastle's Cheapest Cars sales manager Stuart Vickery said he had never seen the market "so strong for so long".
He, too, had been in the industry for almost 30 years.
Mr Vickery said the forces of supply and demand meant "good cars are hard to find".
While people had to pay a higher price to buy a used car, they also received a higher price for selling a car.
New buyers in the market, such as young people, were most affected by price rises.
"At the end of the day, the market is what people are prepared to pay. The market really resets itself every day and every month," he said.
"It comes down to how many cars are on the market and who's in the market for what type of car."
When buying a used car, he said service history and general condition were important factors.
Technology was at the point where vehicles with 150,000 kilometres on the clock could be better than those with 50,000 kilometres.
This depended on whether it had been "driven correctly and serviced properly".
He said the market was "more educated than ever" due to the internet.
People were buying cars online without seeing them in person. This was unheard of 15 years ago.
Mr Vickery sells cars from Newcastle to Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and Melbourne.
He said the success of selling cars online "comes down to transparency".
"It's all about photographs and descriptions," he said.
Interstate buyers sometimes get a local person to inspect the car they're considering buying.
"The big thing is they're actually getting what they think they're getting."
As well as car sellers, the motor vehicle repair sector had been busy.
