GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

Only 11 percent of the wholesale value adjustments last week were increases, according to Black Book, which indicated that this ratio has not been this small in nearly 11 months.

After recapping in-the-auction-lane comments from editors in his weekly video report, Black Book editorial director Ricky Beggs said: “The resulting analytical efforts and actual value adjustments ended up with the lowest percentage level of increasing adjustments at only 11 percent, since the 9 percent increases for the week ending Oct. 18, 2013.

“The big difference between the two periods was the number of actual vehicles adjusted at 2,146 per day last October and only 1,492 per day this past week, direct evidence showing lower bidding activity,” Beggs continued.

He also pointed out in the latest “Beggs on the Used Car Market” report that the week ending Oct. 18 saw greater price swings, with cars falling $74 and trucks off $64. This time around, cars fell $57 and trucks dipped $54.

Interestingly enough, this marked the smallest decline for cars in eight weeks but the largest change for trucks in six weeks.

While indicating that there wasn’t much of a market pattern to discern from this past week, Beggs did note that “the declining change level for the cars and the trucks has been greater this year.”

Offering some overall commentary on the market, Beggs talked about the positive impact that leasing has had on new-vehicle retail sales as well as the selection of used cars in the wholesale market.

The fact that lease penetration numbers are “continuing to prosper” had led to increased used-car supply, he said, “lowering the level of aggressive bidding as there are more desirable units to choose from.”

Beggs added: “Even though (last week) was a short week due to the Labor Day holiday, there was plenty of data to analyze. The feedback from the auction lanes through the Black Book survey reports gave us two primary type comments.

“One was a softer market with more no sales. The other still indicates the strong seasonal interest in trucks. As the editors attended various auctions, their on-the-lanes interpretation was also of more no sales, no specific pattern of buying activity, yet really good crowds in attendance,” he continued.

Breaking down the segment changes, the most stable car segments were entry-level cars (up $1 last week), entry midsize cars and compact cars (both down by $32). Beggs said he was a bit surprised by this, given how gas prices — albeit stable in the past week — are $0.15 lower than they were a year ago.

Elsewhere, another trend Beggs spotted was the consistency within the full-size van class.

“There is only one pretty consistent pattern within the market change over the past few weeks, and that is for the full-size  vans, where the passenger versions continue to bring the money, with a $23 increase in average price week over week, and positive week-over-week changes for four of the past five weeks,” he said.

 The complete video from Beggs and Black Book can be seen above.