ATLANTA -

It appears prices were surging in the certified pre-owned market during August, as AutoTrader.com reported Tuesday that 18 of the site’s 20 most popular CPO models saw their asking prices go up from a year ago.

What’s more, 14 of those 18 increases were more than $1,000, the site pointed out.

“CPO asking prices are up for two key reasons: One, economic conditions have led more shoppers to consider late-model used vehicles more than ever before," Rick Wainschel,  AutoTrader’s vice president of automotive insights, told Auto Remarketing.

"And two, the decline in the automotive industry in 2008 and 2009 led to a smaller number of these late-model used cars to be available for sale. It’s a matter of decreased supply at a time of increased demand," he added.

Percentage-wise, smaller, non-luxury units showed the greatest price gains in the certified segment.

Among those small, non-luxury models, the largest price uptick (in actual dollars)  was the Honda Accord, whose price climbed $1,967 (a 10.8-percent increase), followed by the Honda Civic (up $1,841; 11.5 percent) and Volkswagen Jetta (up $1,751; 10.8 percent ).

Moving on, among AutoTrader’s 20 most popular used rides in August, 10 had higher asking prices than a year ago.

“On the list of most-searched used vehicles, there were less average asking price increases overall,” the company explained. “However, the smaller, non-luxury cars showed similar increases to those seen on the CPO list.”

The site gave the example of the used Accord, whose price climbed $1,793 (up 11.4 percent) for the largest dollar upswing.

The used Civic came in second as its price jumped $1,553 (up 11.5 percent). The third highest spike was in the used Nissan Altima, whose price was up $1,426 (9.5 percent).

“For new cars, it was actually an SUV that had the highest asking price increase: the new Ford Explorer’s price rose $4,044, or 11.2 percent. This increase is easily attributable to the highly successful redesign of that model,” officials explained.

Sharing more about the lists, the most searched-for CPO vehicle was, yet again, the BMW 3-Series. It was followed by the Accord and Chevrolet Silverado 1500, respectively.

This order represented the same top three for both the year-ago and month-ago periods.

The Ford F-150 was most popular used vehicle, with the 3-Series in second and the Silverado 1500 in third. This, too, was the same order for July and August 2010.

The F-150 also topped the new-car list, followed by the Chevrolet Camaro. The Ford Mustang grabbed the third-place spot.

In July, the F-150 was No. 1, with the Mustang second and the Camaro third. In August 2010, the Mustang was the most searched for new vehicle, with the F-150 second and the Camaro third.

Toyota, Honda Show Gains in Used, CPO

Moving along, AutoTrader also examined Honda and Toyota in greater detail, given the challenges faced by Japanese brands this year.

The Accord, Civic and Toyota Camry — which had been regulars on the new-car list until the aftermath of the disasters — did not make the new-vehicle rankings in August and really haven’t surfaced much on the list since the earthquake.

However, AutoTrader offered a silver lining for these models on the used side of the market. From July to August, the Accord climbed from No. 8 to No. 7 on the list of most-popular used vehicles and the Camry returned to the list, grabbing the 20th spot after placing 21st in July. The Civic maintained its No. 9 used-vehicle ranking.

For CPO vehicles, the Accord remained at No. 2, and the Camry remained in sixth-place.

“While the Civic dropped five spots month-over-month to No. 12, it still retains a respectable spot on the list of most-searched CPO cars,” officials noted.

Sharing more about site traffic trending for Honda and Toyota on the new-car side, the inventory dearth certainly showed an impact for these automakers on AutoTrader.com from April through July.

That said, AutoTrader said “there was a hint of stabilization for both automakers in August.”

During August, Toyota’s inventory level was static month-over-month and Honda showed a 2-percent gain.

The site suggests that with inventory normalizing, these automakers could end up being well-positioned to grab back some of the market share that went adrift during the inventory crisis.

“Despite the production issues facing Toyota and Honda, the strength of these brands and popularity of those models remains evident in the searches conducted on AutoTrader.com,” said Wainschel. “The Accord, Civic and Camry have long been among American’s favorite cars, and we expect them to remain viable competitors in the small and mid-size segments.”

To illustrate its findings in more detail, AutoTrader provided the following charts: