The number of repossessed vehicles being offered for sale continues to rise as Australians face a growing cost of living crisis.

Auction site Pickles reported an average 13 percent increase in the number of repossessed cars coming to auction over the past six months.

In the second quarter of 2024 – April to June – the number of vehicles recovered increased again by 11 percent compared to the first three months of 2024.

Pickles noted in their second quarter report that the “significant percentage” of reclaimed vehicles coming in before auction was due to multiple factors.

“Pickles sees the two main contributing factors behind this growth as continued cost-of-living pressures – related to high CPI inflation and interest rates – along with owners’ declining ability to refinance as vehicle values ​​generally decline, in contrast to the explosive rise in used (car) values ​​prior to the second quarter of 2022,” the report said.

The report said used vehicle volumes continued to grow, with a new post-Covid record and a 34 percent year-on-year increase in used car sales.

It is striking that the number of electric vehicles, also known as EVs, in use increased by a record 91 percent in the second quarter of 2024. No fewer than 82 vehicles were auctioned.

“This represents 246 percent year-on-year growth, underscoring Pickles’ growing status as the place to buy a used electric car,” the report said.

“A more stable growth pattern is expected for the remainder of 2024, but we are witnessing the largest shift in fuel types in generations.”

This comes after the ABS reported a moderate increase in personal loans for the purchase of road vehicles in May, with debt reaching about $1.397 billion that month.

That figure is a marginal decrease from the $1.4 billion reported in September 2023, and a significant increase from the $693 million reported two decades earlier in May 2006.