Auction Stats This year’s Monterey Auctions saw nearly $382M in collector cars sold, a slight 3% dip from 2023, but an 18% decrease compared to the record-breaking 2022 event.
Interestingly, more cars were sold in both 2023 and 2024 than during the height of the market in 2022. This aligns with recent market trends: while overall sales activity has increased since 2022, average prices have dropped – partly due to price cooling, but more significantly, a shift in market preferences. Younger buyers are increasingly drawn to emerging classics that remain affordable, while some high-end, blue-chip models are being left unsold.
Key takeaways from Monterey 2024:
- 2024 saw a continued slowdown in Dollar Volume compared to the record-breaking 2022 event, reflecting a market stabilization that began shortly after that event.
- Monterey 2024 highlighted stability replacing the rapid growth seen in 2021 and 2022, possibly signaling early signs of market contraction.
- The number of cars sold was similar to 2023, with fewer cars offered for sale, resulting in a slightly higher sell-through rate (STR).
- Only 32 cars achieved record-breaking sales this year, down from over 100 in 2023. The majority of these were built in 1989 or later.
- While cars from the 1950s-1960s had the most listings this year, it was cars from the 1990s-2000s that saw the highest growth, with a 40% increase in total listings.
- In fact, cars from the 1990s-2000s (and newer) were the easiest to sell, with sell-through rates over 80% – about 10% higher than the overall average. They were also the most likely to have record-breaking sales.
- Monterey 2024 significantly impacted less than 20% of markets:
- 61 sales in 49 markets led to a CMB* increase of over 5%, averaging 22%.
- 43 sales in 40 markets resulted in a CMB* decrease of more than 5%, averaging -13%.
Market Busters in Monterey
Only 32 sales in Monterey were the Top Sale recorded in their Market based on the data we've been tracking since 2019. This is down from over 100 last year. It's clear that Monterey is still the place to sell special cars, but it's also clear that the height of the market is behind us, and record-breaking prices are fewer and far between.
However, let's not neglect the record breakers – as there were still 22 of them! Below are the Top 10, ranked by increase over the the previous high. Notably, all but 1 were built in 1989 or later – showcasing the up-and-coming markets that younger collectors and enthusiasts are focusing on.
Top Sales in Monterey
While 2 cars from the 1990s made it in the Top 10 Sales list, it was still cars built in 1970 or earlier that topped the list of most expensive cars on the peninsula this year. And congratulations are in order to RM Sotheby's, who sold half of them.
*The CLASSIC.COM Market Benchmark (CMB) is a benchmark value for vehicles in a given Market based on data accumulated by CLASSIC.COM and calculated by a proprietary algorithm that takes into account volume and recency of each data point. CMB can be used to assess the performance of a market over a given time period. However, it does not represent the value of a specific vehicle. Read more in our Glossary of Terms
Header Image Credit: Car & Driver Monterey Live Blog
