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Chattanooga used car prices drop nearly 10% the past year, study shows

Staff photo by Mike Pare / A photo shows a used vehicle lot in Chattanooga in October 2023. Used car prices have dropped nearly 10% over the past year, a study shows.
Staff photo by Mike Pare / A photo shows a used vehicle lot in Chattanooga in October 2023. Used car prices have dropped nearly 10% over the past year, a study shows. Staff photo by Mike Pare / A photo shows a used vehicle lot in Chattanooga in October 2023. Used car prices have dropped nearly 10% over the past year, a study shows.

Used cars in Chattanooga averaged a nearly 10% drop in price over the past year compared to 6.5% nationally, a new study shows, as the market softens from the big increases posted amid the pandemic and its aftermath.

Less than a year ago, the average cost of a 3-year-old car in Chattanooga was $33,000, up from $22,000, or 50%, in 2019, according to auto research website iSeeCars.com.

(READ MORE: Used car prices soar 50%)

Last year, earlier plant shutdowns and limited new car production during the pandemic were still playing havoc with the used car market.

Karl Brauer, executive analyst of iSeeCars.com, said supply and demand is what determines prices. In Chattanooga, there are far more vehicles than buyers, he said.