Auction prices are on the way down — that is, except for the large pickup segment.

According to NADA Used Car Guide, overall industry wholesale price movement is expected to fall a bit this week (by 0.2 percent, or $25, relative to the two-week average).

Bucking the rest of the market will be the large pickups, a segment which is expected to see average wholesale prices increase by 0.4 percent, or $75.

And according to NADA Used Car Guide’s May edition of Guidelines, through the first four months of this year, prices for this segment were up almost 7 percent.

Offering some insight into the reasons behind the price uptrend, Jonathan Banks, executive automotive analyst with NADA UCG, said in the report, "The recovery of home values and increased residential construction, stabilizing gasoline prices and a decline in late-model supply have resulted in higher trade-in values for full-size pickups."

He also explained that the simple rules of supply and demand are pushing prices up, as well.

For more information about price trends for pickup trucks, see the Auto Remarketing story here.

While full-size pickups may be on the upswing, most other segments are experiencing a very different reality.

Midsize cars are expected to see some of the biggest declines again this week, this time falling by 0.6 percent, or $75, NADA UCG said.

The compact car segment is also expected to see some minor declines over the course of the current week as prices are projected to fall by an average of 0.2 percent, or $25, as gas prices remain relatively low.

Midsize utilities will remain flat this week versus their two-week average, according to NADA UCG, while compact utilities are expected to fall by 0.2 percent, or $25.  

“More declines are expected in the large SUV and midsize van segments, which are slated to decline by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively,” officials added.

Lastly, on the highline side, the luxury utility and luxury car segments are expected to decline by 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

An analysis from the RVI Group that looked back at trends from last month indicated that wholesale values  (seasonally adjusted; two- to five-year-old vehicles) saw an increase of 0.4 percent in April when compared to March. And on a year-over-year basis, prices fell 0.5 percent in April, according to the RVI's Market Update.

Kelley Blue Book's Alec Gutierrez says he expects wholesale prices to continue dropping.

"Kelley Blue Book believes used-vehicle values likely will decline between 1 to 3 percent in the second quarter, and will continue to drop modestly throughout the rest of 2013,” Gutierrez said in April's Blue Book Used Car Market Report.

Gutierrez expects the industry to end the year with much lower auction prices than seen in 2012.

“Due to improving supply conditions at auction, attractive new-vehicle finance offers and cheaper gas prices, Kelley Blue Book expects used-car values to remain down year-over-year, likely ending the year 3 to 5 percent below prices paid in 2012,” Gutierrez concluded. 

For more on the spring auction market and future wholesale trends, see the Auto Remarketing story here.

Four- and two-week AuctionNet wholesale average prices are created by collecting all AuctionNet records for vehicles  up to five years of age for a specified period of time.  Prices are then adjusted for changes in mileage and mix.

Current week prices are based on NADA's proprietary used-vehicle value model which includes assumptions for new-vehicle prices, used-vehicle supply, gasoline prices and other economic factors.