Once again, auction prices for cars were on the way down last week. But pickup truck prices began picking up even more.

The latest Black Book Market Insights report said that all car segments Black Book tracks saw prices drop in the lanes last week, while each of the three pickup segments in the data set saw a slight increase.

Overall, car prices fell by an average of 0.37 percent (or $46), while truck rates dropped by 0.12 percent ($19).

And over the last four weeks, car values declined by 1.06 percent, while truck values increased by 0.16 percent, on avearge, according to Black Book data.

“Most segments declined in value last week, led by small car segments declining the most, while pickups continued to show strength in this post-spring market,” said Anil Goyal, vice president of automotive valuation and analytics.

Though the $90 drop in compact SUV values and the $84 decline in midsize SUV values contributed to the general decline for trucks, pickup segments bucked the trend.

Compact pickups saw prices spike by $9 (or 0.06 percent); full-size pickups were up $3 (0.01 percent); and midsize pickups saw an increase of $22 (0.18 percent).

For the car segments, the smaller car category once again showed the largest drop in prices — a common trend after tax season.

Entry-level cars, in particular, saw the largest rate drop in the lanes last week with a 0.73-percent drop ($53). Rates for this segment have been falling over the last four weeks.

Black Book also shared feedback from the lanes in its report, highlighting comments such as:  “Dealers feel that the prices are fairly high”; and “Sellers trying to get the most money possible are causing lots of no sales”.

Black Book analysts stated, “These comments reflect a market that saw all car segments decline during the week, while all three pickup segments saw a slight increase.”

Prices have fallen off this month after tax season strength showed up in April.

The RVI Used Vehicle Price Index was up by 0.06 percent in April when compared to March rates, but was down 2.7 percent year-over-year, according to the latest RVI Market Update. 

Interestingly, even though smaller cars normally get the bigger boosts in price in regards to tax season trends, RVI reported that larger vehicles saw the largest gains last month. For example, full-size SUVs increased by 2 percent, while compact cars had the weakest performance in April, sliding by 0.7 percent.

This trend has continued into May as the industry continues to see larger units go for more in the lanes while retention among the car segments is taking a hit.