Overall “softness” for used prices in the lanes continued last week, says Black Book’s Ricky Beggs. But reasons including housing growth and the recent Oklahoma tornadoes may be contributing to truck segment auction prices remaining stronger than their smaller counterparts.

The trucks have been holding their value at auction a bit better than cars this spring, but it seems the gap may be closing.

This week the truck segments saw an average drop of $36,  Black book vice president and managing editor reported in his latest, “Beggs on the Used Car Market,” video report.

That said, there were two truck segments that saw slight increases last week: The midsize pickups rose by $24, and the cargo minivans rose by $3.

“Housing growth, an overall improving economy, and now the additional need around the Oklahoma City area for cleanup and ultimately reconstruction, continue to be the primary drivers in making the trucks better than the cars,” Beggs said.

Beggs also offered a bit of commentary on the full-size pickup segment.

“Although at a declining level for the second week in a row, the full-size pickups are still maintaining a pretty strong presence in the market. Even though they have declined for four of the past five weeks, the declining levels have all been single digit changes,” Beggs said.

On the other hand,  car market average segment change was “right in line with the previous four weeks,” declining by an average of $43.

The segment experiencing the smallest decline last week was the near luxury cars, falling by an average of $25, or 0.22 percent.

This segment also saw the second smallest percentage decline, just behind the premium sporty cars which finished the week with a dip of 0.11 percent, or $40. 

And the entry midsize and upper midsize car segments are still experiencing price slides.

“The entry midsize cars and the upper midsize cars are not getting the special attention in the market right now as their level of change over the past three to four weeks is right at the top of the segment changes in their amount of decline,” Beggs said.

Overall, with 28 percent of changes being positive last week, this marks the lowest percentage of adjustments that were increases since the week ending Jan. 4.

What’s in store?

“With no sales still mentioned in many reports, the ex-rental cars continuing to be off in demand, and more interest for three- to five-year-old vehicles, we expect the market to continue to adjust in a manner preparing for another model year to enter the market come August and September,” Beggs concluded.

NADA Used Car Guide also touched on recent wholesale movement this month, noting that used-vehicle prices at auction are continuing their spring decline, falling by an average of 1.5 percent during the first few weeks of May.

In his latest blog post, NADA Used Car Guide’s Jonathan Banks wrote, “With market fundamentals remaining relatively stable and late-model auction supply only 1 percent higher on a year-to-date basis, the biggest driving factor behind price declines in May is normal seasonal depreciation.”

Banks, executive analyst for NADA UCG,  noted that used wholesale values started the spring decline in April, when rates fell by 1.7 percent.

For more on segment value changes see the Auto Remarketing story here.

To view the latest "Beggs on the Used Car Market" video report, see below: