We’ve all heard of voter discontent with the cost of housing, food, and energy. But anyone thinking of buying a car has their own form of sticker shock.
“The $25,000 car is fast becoming a unicorn,” said Edmunds Consumer analyst Joseph Yoon. But it’s the price point the average American can afford, because that’s the car a payment of around $400 a month will buy.
High-interest rates mean the average monthly car payment is now $744 a month, according to Kelley Blue Book.
That gap has forced Americans to chase a smaller and smaller number of used cars on the market. But the average amount of a used car purchase that’s financed is still a steep $27,800, and interest rates for used cars are typically even higher than for new cars. Today’s used car buyer faces an average monthly payment of $549, a full 40 percent higher than the payment the average American can afford.
But Bidenomics is working.
|