GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

The last week of February — although snowy — was a positive one in the auction lanes, as both cars and trucks saw the lowest price drops experienced over the past three weeks.

“This is an expected trend based on seasonality patterns that we have tracked and studied for the past decade,” said Black Book editorial director Ricky Beggs in his lastest “Beggs on the Used Car Market” video report.

Last week, 40 percent of all price adjustments at auction were increases.

And for the first time in nine weeks, one of the car segments saw a rise in price, albeit slight. Last week, the full-size cars saw prices rise by $5, after seeing a $4 decline the week before.  

The entry level cars and upper-midsize cars are also seeing stable pricing, falling by $3 and $12 last week, respectively.

Strong residuals for these segments are “being driven by demand in the ‘tax season’ market,” said Beggs.

“Overall the -$40 average segment change for the cars was half of the year-ago (change of) -$81, when the extremely harsh winter weather was adversely affecting the market,” Beggs continued.

The trucks also experienced the lowest weekly average change in the past three weeks, with a slight average decline of $33.

That said, Beggs pointed out there are a few segments still seeing larger-than-normal price drops.

For example, the luxury SUVs saw prices drop by $158 last week, and the full-size SUVs declined by $84.

“Both of these were lower declines than the prior week, but still adjusting and still finding a new market level,” Beggs said.

Though SUV prices may be wavering, demand for pickups remains strong.

The midsize pickups saw prices rise by $21 this past week. And the full-size cargo vans, “continue their demand in the used market by the buyers,” Beggs said. Last week the full-size cargo vans saw prices spike by $57, after prices rose by $70 the prior week.

To view the latest “Beggs on the Used Car Market” report, see above.