OAK RIDGE, N.C. — Now would be a pretty good time to sell your used car but most likely a difficult time to buy one.

According to data from Edmunds.com, the average price of a used vehicle surged nearly 14%, roughly 10 times the rate of inflation to over $23,000. It is among the fastest increases in decades.

Oak Ridge Auto Sales is a used car dealership in Oak Ridge. Salespeople, like Sydney Cervone, are seeing those used car prices jump firsthand.  

“We’ve definitely seen the prices go up because inventory is so low, but that will happen with pretty much anything with supply and demand, but we definitely try to match what the market is doing as far as pricing," Cervone says.

Car salespeople at Oak Ridge also add that due to the supply shortage that arose last spring after the coronavirus hit hard, many automaker factories had to shut down, reducing the industry’s sales of new vehicles. This resulted in fewer trade-ins, and now fewer vehicles are available due to the ongoing shortage.