ANALYSIS: Top 5 Takeaways From Monterey Car Week 2025

As Pebble Beach returns to its natural state as a golf course, as the masses head back to the airport and as the streets of Carmel no longer resemble a scene from a movie, it's time to look back on what we learnt from the auctions over Monterey Car Week 2025.

This post covers all the content we've produced from Monterey 2025, if you want to jump to a certain section, use the table of contents below to go right there.

Note: the analysis here focuses solely on the cars from Monterey, automobilia and bikes are excluded. Prices include premium. Estimate analysis does not include Mecum as no estimates are provided.

Our Takeaways

1. Less is More: Supply Tightens as Prices Soar

A fascinating trend emerged from the Monterey sales this year: supply is clearly constraining. The total number of cars offered has steadily decreased from the 2023 peak, with 1,167 offered in 2023, 1,078 in 2024, and just 1,016 in 2025.

This tightening of supply (which is fairly consistent across all price points) makes the weekend's financial results even more impressive.

Despite fewer cars on offer, the auctions generated a massive $421.5 million in total sales, a significant increase over 2024's total of $356.9 million.

This combination of tightening supply and rising prices points to powerful upward momentum. The most telling statistic is the average sale price, which jumped to an incredible $564,229, compared to $478,382 last year.

Furthermore, the sell-through rate, which stood at 69% for both 2023 and 2024, climbed to 75% this year. While influenced by more no-reserve sales, this is a clear sign that buyers are willing to pay a premium for high-quality cars, and the competition for them is heating up.

2. Buyer and Seller Expectations Are Aligning

One of the surest signs of a stabilising market is when the gap between seller hopes and buyer reality begins to close.

The data from the Monterey auctions shows this is happening right now. In 2025, the median sale price was just 7% below the mid-point of the auction house's estimate. This is a huge improvement from 2024 and 2023, when that gap was a much wider 12% and 10% deficit, respectively.

Looking at the average tells a similar story: this year, cars sold for an average of just 5% below their estimate mid-point, compared to 8% below in the two prior years. This signals that auction houses and consignors are becoming more realistic with their valuations, and buyers are more willing to meet them there.

3. The High End Thrives, Led by an Auction Powerhouse

The strength of the Monterey sales was most evident at the very top of the market. The "seven-figure club" was booming, with an impressive 89 cars selling for over $1 million, up from 65 in 2024.

And, that love was spread around, it wasn't all Ferrari. In fact, it may surprise you to know that only 27 of the 89 cars to sell for over $1 million were from Maranello.

Leading the charge in this high-end arena was RM Sotheby's, which asserted its dominance over the weekend. The auction house sold over $163 million worth of cars, and more importantly, their average sale price was a staggering $1,276,733.

To put this dominance into perspective, that figure is more than double the next closest rival, Bonhams, which had an average sale price of $519,082.

4. A Split Market: The Generational Divide is Clear

Digging into the data by decade reveals a starkly divided market, with clear trends showing which eras performed well and which did not. For cars from the 1950s or prior, 60% failed to meet their lower estimate, and only 8% sold for more than their upper estimate. Compare that to cars offered from the 1960s onwards, where only 33% failed to meet their lower estimate and 25% surpassed their upper estimate.

The strength right now is clearly concentrated in more modern classics. The 1980s delivered a strong 83% sell-through rate. Meanwhile, the 1990s were exceptionally robust, with an incredible 36% of the 74 lots offered selling for more than their top estimate - a higher percentage than almost any other decade.

See our articles on the cars that flew and cars that flopped at Monterey 2025 to see examples of this come to life.

5. A Crucial Caveat: Monterey's Place in the Global Market

Monterey isn't the entire market, and the market isn't Monterey. It's a crucial distinction to make.

From a volume perspective, Monterey makes up about 1% of all auctions annually. From a value perspective, it's so skewed to the top end that it isn't reflective of the broader market as a whole.

Furthermore, the US market often operates at a different level than its neighbours across the Atlantic; prices achieved here may not be attainable in Europe.

However, that doesn't stop us from taking signals from the colossal events of last weekend.

After the market fell roughly 15% from its COVID-era peak, signs of stabilisation were needed, and Monterey delivered just that.

To summarise, here are the key headlines from the weekend's sales:

• A Stronger, Leaner Market: A decreasing supply of cars was met with higher total spending and a rising average sale price, signaling a healthy market with strong upward price pressure. Whether this plays out long term, time well tell.

• Growing Stability: The gap between estimates and sale prices has narrowed significantly, indicating that buyer and seller expectations are now more closely aligned.

• High-End Dominance: The seven-figure-plus segment of the market is booming, with RM Sotheby's leading as the dominant auction house for high-value cars.

• A Clear Generational Shift: Cars from the 1960s-onwards, particularly from the 80s and 90s, are dramatically outperforming pre-1960s vehicles.

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Till next year...