Though ADESA’s monthly analysis of used-car prices showed a slight uptick from September, this bump in price may not accurately portray the current environment in the lanes.

According to ADESA Analytical Services’ monthly analysis of wholesale used vehicle prices by vehicle model class, auction prices were up 1.3 percent to an average of $9,678 last month.

But don’t be tricked — ADESA chief economist Tom Kontos says there is more to that story.

“As in September, a large proportion of higher priced, late-model manufacturer off-rental program vehicles, some of which were sold after delays due to recalls, biased average wholesale prices upward and masked the inherent softness of a wholesale used vehicle market facing high incoming supply,” Kontos said.  

With more supply coming in, Kontos pointed out retail used-vehicle demand didn’t “support” auction prices as it had in prior months, “as franchised dealers did well simply to retail the many units they have been taking from off-lease purchases and in trade on strong new-vehicle sales.”

In fact, retail used-vehicles sales were down 18 percent month-over-month in October, according to CNW data.

That said, Kontos pointed out franchised dealers saw a 2.2 percent year-over-year spike in used sales, which he says indicates they are having an easy time retailing the trade-ins coming in from strong new-car sales.

And Kontos pointed out strong CPO sales — which, according to Autodata, were up 7.5 percent on a monthly basis in October — are playing a large role in absorbing expanding supply from lease volumes and trade-ins, as well.  

This past month’s auction price movement rose year-over-year last month, as well, up 0.9 percent compared to October 2013, according to ADESA data.

Similar to what was seen in September, Kontos said average prices for minivans were up considerably.

“This reflects an increase in the percentage of current and one-year-old models sold in factory sales,” he added.

Minivans saw prices rise 11.3 percent from September and 13.9 percent year-over-year to rest at an average rate of $7,882 last month.

And though prices rose slightly across the board in October, according to ADESA, dealer consigners were the only seller group to see average prices spike.

Dealer consignors saw a 1.4 percent increase in price from September and a 0.7 percent rise from October 2013.

“This bodes well for the wholesale market’s ability to absorb excess dealer trades,” Kontos said.

On the other hand, prices for vehicles remarketed by manufacturers were down 11.3 percent from September and 8.6 percent year-over-year.

And prices for fleet/lease consignors were down 3.7 percent sequentially and 2.2 percent annually. 

“Prices for off-rental ‘risk’ units within this segment were again down significantly,” Kontos said.