Used cars offset inflation increase

Used car prices fell 3.9 per cent in the June 2019 quarter, compared with a 3.3 per cent fall in the same quarter last year. This quarter’s prices are the lowest since the December 2015 quarter.

The overall the consumers price index (CPI) rose 0.6 per cent in the June 2019 quarter, due to higher prices for petrol and rent, Stats NZ has announced. 

The CPI measures the rate of price change of goods and services purchased by New Zealand households. 

In the year to June 2019, the inflation rate was 1.7 per cent, up from 1.5 per cent in the March 2019 year.

Petrol prices rose 5.8 per cent in the June 2019 quarter after a 7.0 per cent fall in the March 2019 quarter.

The average price of 91 octane petrol was $2.13 a litre this quarter, up from $2.01 last quarter, but still under its peak of $2.18 in the September 2018 quarter.

"Petrol prices rose slowly over the first part of the quarter, reaching a peak in late May and then falling," says prices senior manager Paul Pascoe.

"By the last week of June, the petrol pump price was two per cent lower than the June quarter average."

The petrol price rise was the largest contributor to quarterly inflation. However, like used cars, many other transport items fell - seasonal falls for used cars, domestic airfares and rental cars offset the petrol price rise.