GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

The summer market is in full force in the lanes as we head toward fall, says Black Book’s Ricky Beggs.  

For example, last week, car prices fell by an average of $81 at auction, almost twice the $42 decline during the same period of 2013. According to Black Book data, only once over the past 12 months has the average price decline for cars soared higher:  during the week of Sept. 13, when prices fell by an average of $84.

Last week the smallest price drop was seen in the near luxury car segment, which saw a slight decline of $31, or 0.20 percent. Interestingly, this segment had seen greater-than-average price declines for the previous five weeks, Beggs pointed out.

A recent post on Cars.com’s Kicking Tires blog highlighted just how much the market is softening in the lanes and on the lots, as well. The site reported late-model used-car retail prices dipped below an average of $23,000 this month for the first time this year. The average late-model used-car price settled at $22,919 this month, dropping 0.78 percent from June.

The Cars.com post, written by Mike Hanley, said this marks the third month in a row retail used prices have fallen. The car that saw the biggest price drop: the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, with saw prices drop by 3.2 percent to rest at $19,511.

The hot season normally brings with it softening in auction prices, and this year is no exception. One big driver of dropping prices in the lanes is the arrival of a new model-year.

“To understand this market movement, just remember to look at the calendar and you see August and September bringing us another model year into the market,” Beggs, senior vice president and editorial director at Black Book said during his latest “Beggs on the Used Car Market” report.

And while trucks have experience stronger price retention over the course of 2014, the trucks are beginning to catch up to their smaller counterparts when it comes to price drops.

Beggs pointed out that as the summer weeks pass, trucks are softening, as well. Last week, the truck segments saw an average decline of $59, which is the largest seen since the week ending Feb. 21, according to Black Book data.

The segments with the biggest price drops were the full-size SUVs and the luxury SUVs, which fell by $149 and $148, respectively.

On the other hand, compact pickups performed the best, with only a $2 average price drop this past week.

Overall, though the first half of the year showed strong price retention trends, with depreciation hovering around 4 percent, according to Black Book data, the rate of decline is expected to be significantly higher in the second half of 2014.

“As the economy and the new-car sales continue to improve our forecast of annual depreciation for 2014 we feel will be greater than the solid 12.8 percent of 2013,” Beggs said. Specificallly, Black Book is projecting prices will decline by 13.5 percent in 2014.

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