Your Car is Now Worth Less Than You Think

Washington DC August 21, 2017; The AIADA reported that car sales in the U.S. have been rising for seven consecutive years now, and it's denting the value of whatever is currently parked in your garage or driveway.

With so many new cars rolling out of dealerships lots and instantly becoming used cars, the secondary market is glutted and the pace of depreciation is rapidly accelerating, reports Bloomberg.

Your not-that-old car might not be a clunker quite yet, but it's probably a lot closer than you think.

The average used car lost 17 percent of its value in the past 12 months, dropping from $18,400 to $15,300, according to data from Black Book, an auto analytics company.

That annual depreciation figure has been increasing steadily, too. The average used car today depreciates nearly twice as fast as it did in 2014, when the annual rate was just 9.5 percent.

"We've got ourselves in an oversupply situation," said Jim Hallett, chief executive officer of KAR Auction Services Inc., which sells about 5 million used cars every year.

"Nobody is interested in stockpiling inventory right now."

For more on falling used car values, click here.