Prices continued dropping at the auction this August, and overarching trends remained unchanged: the groups with the biggest declines in the lanes are still the luxury and fuel-efficient segments. 

And these trends are causing many analysts to take another look at where prices will stand in the lanes come year-end.

“Despite our projection that 2014 will end the year slightly higher than we saw in 2013, the gap between the year-over-year average vehicle prices has decreased from $711 in May 2014 to just $165 in August 2014,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com.

According to the August Kelley Blue Book Report, the luxury segments once again saw the biggest price drops, while the vans and full-size sport vehicles were some of the strongest performing units this past month.

Following a downward trend seen most of this summer, luxury and near-luxury segments saw their prices fall by 3.2 and 3.3 percent, respectively.

The entry-level luxury segment was the worst performing segment last month, with prices dropping by over 3 percent.

KBB pointed out that since May, this segment has seen prices drop by 7.2 percent — and values sit 4.2 percent lower than they did a year ago.

A few of the worst performers in the segment were the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (down 5.1 percent), BMW 3 Series (down 4.7 percent) and the Infiniti G (down 3.1 percent).

“Interest in these vehicles may be getting sidetracked by the newer varient of each vehicle,” said Gutierrez. “The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is all new for 2015, BMW released the 4 Series this year and Infiniti effectively replaced the G model with the Q50/Q60 for 2014.”

The subcompact segment also saw prices drop considerably this past month — in part due to the drop in fuel prices.

Subcompact prices fell $241 year-over-year last month, while fuel prices have fallen 20 cents since June, according to the report.

Kelley Blue Book projects fuel prices to continue on a downward trajectory through the remainder of the year and into 2015.

”As expected, the average price of a subcompact vehicle is significantly lower than this time last year due to decreasing fuel prices,” said Gutierrez. “More fuel-efficient vehicles outside of the subcompact segment also have offset demand for vehicles within this segment. As larger vehicles improve their fuel economy, there is less demand for their smaller vehicle counterpart.”

It also seems we are seeing some market correction of pickup prices that remained unusually strong during the first and second quarter of the year.

This past month, prices for full-size pickups dropped 0.9 percent from July, which KBB predicts is most likely due to normal seasonal depreciation.

That said, rates for these units still sit 5.8 percent higher than August 2013. KBB attributes this spike to strength in the residential construction.

On the other hand, the van and full-size sport utility segments were some of the best performing segments in August, with declines of only 0.5 and 0.7 percent, respectively.