The demand for used cars is growing and so are the prices. Cox Automotive reports a 3% increase in used car prices last month compared to July 2017 and overall used vehicle values rose 5% last month compared to the previous July.

President of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association Will Green says many people are buying cars that were once leased.

"Just by the virtue of it being a lease, you got a newer, high end vehicle that's coming on the market," Green said.
But Green says it’s not just leases behind the surge in national prices. Green says recent natural disasters, and the mass of vehicles destroyed by them, have led to a greater demand.
"You had a massive need in Houston after the floods, so that supply and demand has driven up some of the value," Green said.
But Green says we’re seeing as much of a hike in Louisiana. He says the state’s slower economic growth, resulting from the depression of the oil industry is keeping used car prices lower here than the rest of the nation.
"A lot of our markets in Louisiana are controlled by that supply and demand in the oil fields, we depend on that so much, the dealers are sensitive to that," Green said.

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