That consumer who has put off buying a used car until prices ease may now be more eager to make a purchase.

New-car incentives are at their lowest levels in 12 years, according to TrueCar, which predicts December incentives will average just over $1,000. That’s down from $2,000 in 2021 and $4,000 just three years ago, the company said, citing its own data and Motor Intelligence.

Average new-car prices came in at $48,100 last month, a 0.7% uptick from October and a 4.3% hike from November 2021, according to TrueCar.

Meanwhile, used-car prices fell 1.4% month-over-month and dropped 3.7% from November 2021, coming in at $31,600.

The CarGurus Intelligence Report for November said used-car prices are at “an important inflection point.”

For the first time this year, average used-vehicle listing prices are down year-over-year, CarGurus said.

In fact, for the entirety of 2021, average used listing prices remained ahead of 2020 levels, the report shows.

“After months of historic growth, the average used vehicle listing price is now down year-over-year,” CarGurus director of industry analytics Kevin Roberts, who authored the report, said in its summary.

“Based on recent wholesale price declines, there will likely be further decreases in the coming months,” he said. “The average listing price came in under $30.5k, down 1.8% compared to October and down 1% compared to last year.”

And the used-car price drops are steepest in the South, where states like North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas showed declines in the neighborhood of 9% from July to November, the CarGurus data shows.

Still, used-car supply remains a challenge: the CarGurus Used Vehicle Availability Index declined sequentially for the second straight month, falling more than 3% from October, a decline driven by light trucks.

The ZeroSum Market First Report indicates there have been three straight months of declining used-car inventory. At the time of its analysis, ZeroSum said there were just under 1.62 million available used cars in November, which was down 2.61% from October. And the company was anticipating that figure would fall to 1.54 million before November was through.

“Dealers must strategically acquire inventory they know will sell quickly,” ZeroSum said in the report.

However, lower-priced pre-owned vehicles are now more plentiful. Nearly 30% of used inventory in November was in the $20,000-$30,000 price range, and approximately a quarter of the pre-owned inventory was priced between $10,000-$20,000, according to CarGurus.

Not to mention, late-model used vehicles have shown the steepest drop in price, the company said, CarGurus said.   

Average used listing prices for model-year 2021 used cars fell more than 14% from July to November, with 2022 model-year used cars down just over 12%.

Prices for 2020 model-year vehicles are down more than 10%.

Still, dealers should be mindful of lingering affordability challenges.

ZeroSum — which said used prices at the end of November were down 1.55% at $32,983, the third consecutive sequential decline — pointed to interest rate increases as being a catalyst for used-car affordability concerns.

The company cited data from Cox Automotive indicating that used vehicles now have an average monthly payment of $551, a 47% hike from 2019. That could hit $570 by the end of 2022, ZeroSum said, citing Cox.

“As a result, dealers should be prepared to retail fewer used vehicles than last year but should not be too concerned about profit losses,” the company said in a news release.

In the report, ZeroSum  suggested dealerships “should closely monitor the market and prepare to further decrease prices as it becomes necessary.”