Wrapping up what would be the weakest third quarter for used prices since 2002, wholesale prices softened once again last month.

According to the September installation of ADESA chief economist’s Kontos Kommentary, this marked the fifth month in a row auction prices have fallen.

According to ADESA Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of wholesale used-vehicle prices by vehicle model class, wholesale prices last month fell by 0.4 percent to an average price of $9,557.

Though dropping a bit from August, this number actually marks an 0.8-percent increase from September 2013.

“September’s modest year-over-year increase in average prices reflects a higher percentage of institutional sales of late-model vehicles this year versus last, and therefore, masks the softness in prices seen by looking at those sales on a disaggregated basis,” Kontos explained.

“Improved retail sales of used vehicles after a tough summer cushioned the blow to wholesale prices from growing supply,” he added.

According to CNW, retail used-vehicle sales last month were up 4.1 percent from August and 4.6 percent year-over-year.

In the auction lanes last month, prices for vehicle remarketed by manufacturers saw the biggest hit, falling by 4.2 percent from August and down 3.3 percent year-over-year. Kontos pointed out manufacturers were busy in September selling off elevated program vehicle inventories.

Prices for fleet/lease consignors were up next, down 2.0 percent sequentially and down 1.1 percent year-over-year.

Dealer consignors saw a 1.9-percent average price decrease versus August. That said, this is up 0.3 percent from September 2013. 

Taking at a look at the individual segments, prices for minivans bucked the trend and rose significantly in September, with prices increasing by 15.6 percent from August and 7.1 percent year-over-year, to rest at an average price of $7,082.

Kontos says this bump in price “reflects an increase in the percentage of current and 1-year-old models sold in factory sales in September.”

Kontos also pointed out truck and car rates overall moved in opposite directions last month. Prices for trucks were on the ways up and cars showed some significant drops.

Truck prices rose an average of 1.3 percent from August and 7 percent year-over-year for an average price of $10,406 in September.

Besides minivans, the full-size SUVs saw a larger increase this past month, with prices rising by 1.3 percent from August and 0.8 percent year-over-year. Rounding out the increases were the full-size pickups with a 0.6-percent increase and the midsize SUVs with a 0.2-percent spike from August.

The cars, on the other hand, saw an average decline of 1.5 percent from August and 1.3 percent from September 2013 for an average price of $8,325.

The declines were led by the sporty cars, which saw an average price drop of 2.6 percent from August and 1.3 percent year-over-year.

Interestingly, though all other car segments saw declines, the full-size cars saw a 12.6 percent spike from August, but the average price of $6,516 still represented a 2.1-percent drop from September 2013.