The depreciation in auction values leveled off significantly in the past month — but don’t expect this “calm” period to last too much longer.

Kelley Blue Book said in a report released Thursday that seasonality and increased supply will lead to lower prices in the lanes and quicker depreciation.

In the August issue of its Blue Book Market Report — Used Car Edition, KBB said that auction values dropped an average of $57 over the past month, compared to the dip of $134 the month before.

With the depreciation slope becoming less steep, the 2013 average auction value is head of the 2012 level by $355, KBB indicated.

However, expect to see some change.

“Despite recent calm months, seasonality and an influx of supply expected later in the year should put downward pressure on values, and we expect auction value depreciation to resume at a faster pace in the fourth quarter,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for KBB.

From a segment-by-segment look at auction values, stay tuned to Tuesday’s Auto Remarketing Today.

KBB also checked out fuel prices and their impact on the used market. Gas costs were found to have been “relatively flat” these past two months, which is different than the late-summer months of years past.

The August and September time frames of 2011, for instance, continued a steady downward slope in fuel costs, KBB said. During the same two months last year, prices climbed $0.38.

“Given the trend we’ve seen thus far in 2013, we expect fuel prices to continue on a flat trajectory for the remainder of the year with the possibility of a slight depreciation, following a similar curve to that of 2011,” Gutierrez said.

“This will put further downward pressure on the hybrid and fuel-efficient segments," he added.

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.