HomeCar CultureHagerty Market Rating reaches a new peak

Hagerty Market Rating reaches a new peak

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May 2015-Hagerty Market Rating

The Hagerty Market Rating for May reported a record high of 72.05 on a 100-point scale. The algorithms used to determine the current health of the classic car marketplace point to the nicely increasing prices for what are considered “more affordably priced” cars and to an increase in private sales activity.

In the past month, Hagerty said in its news release, the classic car market experienced “strong price movements among mid-range and more affordably priced cars and activity in private sales continued to accelerate.”

For example, Hagerty reported that private-sale prices were up 14 percent compared with those of the same period a year earlier. May marked the second month in a row with such double-digit increases.

Further, the average sale of a car rated by the Hagerty Price Guide as a “condition No. 3” vehicle more than doubled the forecasted growth, improving by 4 percent since January. According to the price guide, a Condition 3 vehicle is in “good” condition, meaning that is drives and runs well, though might have some incorrect (non-factory) parts, is not used for daily transportation but is ready for a long driving event, and that a casual observer will not see any significant visual flaws.

“Strong price movements among mid-range and more affordably priced cars were particularly noteworthy,” according to the Hagerty Market Rating news release for May.

Making such numbers even more impressive was the fact that one segment of the monthly ratings — expert sentiment — was down 1.7 points because classic car dealer inventories are beginning to build up as potential customers find it difficult to locate perfect cars for sale, Hagerty said, a spokesman explaining that customers are getting must more selective, seeking only the absolute best car they can afford.

Hagerty also announced that its market rating for April has been revised downward, from 71.81 to 71.48, because of recently released inflation figures for the American economy.

The Hagerty Market Rating is based on a weighted algorithm that considers 15 proprietary data points in eight categories, including public auction and private sales, values of insured cars, price-guide values, Hagerty’s own index system and input from industry experts.

The rating, reported at the middle of each month, is based on a 100-point scale and is presented in the form of a tachometer-style gauge, complete with a “superheated” red zone, a sort of warning that we’re approaching a possible burst of the bubble. Ideally, the market cruises along comfortably in the 60- to 80-point “expanding” zone.

Although first released in January 2015, Hagerty applied its formulas to the classic car marketplace dating back to January 2007. The rating then was in the low 60s. During the economic recession, it slumped to the high 40s and has been on an upward trend since late in 2010.

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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