BANDON, Ore. -

Last month was a challenging one for the used-car market, as total sales lagged 1.3 percent behind year-ago figures and fell more than 12 percent from January, according to CNW Research.

Overall, there was a combined 2.06 million used vehicles sold in February by franchised dealers, independent dealers and private parties. Franchised dealers sold 729,163 used vehicles last month, down from 747,543 in February 2013.

Independents had 684,053 used sales, which was down from 699,065 a year ago. There were 641,939 casual sales last month, up from 636,019 in February 2013.

“It was a tough month for most used-car dealers as well as private parties,” CNW president Art Spinella said in a recap of the month’s results.

In a bit of a silver lining, the value of used cars sold franchised dealers went up 6.1 percent year-over-year thanks to “a richer mix of inventory as well as a strong CPO market,” Spinella said.

“Independents weren't so fortunate, seeing the value of the vehicles sold falling 4.3 percent,” he added. “Private-party sales had a 12.65-percent increase in value of vehicle sold with a growing percentage of Asian models with higher retail pricing being offered.”

There were 15.13 percent fewer used-car shoppers last month than there were in February 2013. Compared to January, there were 16.5 percent fewer shoppers.

“In all, there were 2.3 shoppers for every buyer in February, down from 2.67 in January,” Spinella noted.

“Bad weather did deter many of those shoppers from searching outside of their marketing area for a used vehicle. The share of buyers who bought within their marketing area climbed 18 percent compared to February 2013.”