Seasonal patterns, such as an uptick in car buyers during tax season, lifted used-car pricing and wholesale activity this month, say Black Book editors.

And continuing toward spring, the company said it expects "additional growth in new-car sales from pent-up demand will bring in more trade-in volume and result in a continued slow easing of prices at the wholesale level," says managing editor Ricky Beggs.

And it seems demand in the lanes won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

Bob McConkey, Jr., president of DAA Northwest, had a similar story to tell in his latest weekly Market Message.

"It was another red-hot sale this week (last week); 70 percent sales are the new norm. However, like all things in life, this too will eventually change," he said.

"Meanwhile, I do not see any change in the coming weeks. Retail is also red hot — more on the used-car side than the new. Inventories are shrinking, and demand for product should continue at this pace for the near term future," McConkey added.

Looking forward, as fuel prices continue to surge upwards, gas-sipping segments "should continue to get a lot of looks from the increase in springtime fuel prices," said Beggs.

But that doesn’t mean the truck and SUV segments will fall off; in fact, as service sectors look to add vehicle inventory for continued construction activity, demand for these vehicles will grow, as well, Black Book reported.

Highlighting trends seen this month, Beggs explained the tax season and shoppers "leveraging" anticipated tax returns contributed to a used-car price increases in February, particularly for vehicles in the under-$10,000 range.

"Used-car shoppers picked up the pace, and wholesale auction activity saw increased price adjustments in fuel-efficient and small crossover segments during February," Beggs shared.

But though prices may be rising by month, they are still down far from 2012 rates.

Breaking it down further, overall, both import and domestic vehicle prices are down this month.

Compared with year-ago levels, import vehicle prices are down 14.4 percent, while domestic prices are down 8.7 percent.

And over the past three months, import prices are down 4.1 percent while domestic prices are down just 1.2 percent.

Comparing month-over-month activity, import prices are down 0.9 percent, while domestics are down 0.6 percent, according to Black Book data.

Breaking it down by segment, truck segment prices are down 11.1 percent year-over-year,  and car segments are down 14.3 percent this month. 

Comparing month-over-month activity, trucks are down 0.7 percent,  and cars are down 0.9 percent.

To illustrate this month’s price trends, Beggs provided the following data. The below Black Book data is based on cars and trucks from model years 2007–2011:

Domestic/Import & Car/Truck Performance

12-Month Comparisons
Import Trucks: -14.1%
Import Cars: -14.6%
Domestic Trucks: -7.2%
Domestic Cars: -13.0%

1-Month Comparisons
Import Trucks: -0.7%
Import Cars: -1.0%
Domestic Trucks: -0.7%
Domestic Cars: -0.3%

Top 5 Segment Price Performance Over Last Month

Mid-Size Pickup Trucks: +0.2%
Full-Size SUV: 0.0%
Entry-Mid-Size Car: -0.1%
Upper Mid-Size Car: -0.3%
Mid-Size SUV: -0.3%

Bottom 5 Segment Price Performance Over Last Month

Full-Size Crossover: -1.3%
Entry Sporty Car: -1.3%
Premium Sporty Car: -1.3%
Premium Luxury Car: -1.2%
Full-Size Cargo Van: -1.2%
 

Sarah Rubenoff can be reached at srubenoff@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.