Due largely to the impact of Hurricane Sandy, used-vehicle prices fell only 1 percent month-over-month in November, according to the latest Guidelines report from NADA Used Car Guide, which said that December pricing should behave similarly before a modest turnaround to begin 2013.

“As far as the next two months are concerned, NADA expects that used-vehicle depreciation in December will essentially match what was recorded last month and then turn slightly positive as is the seasonal norm in January,” NADA Used Car Guide's Jonathan Banks said in the report.

“In addition, the prevailing environment of tight late-model used-vehicle supply along with the boost in demand caused by Sandy will continue to see depreciation mildly outperform pre-storm expectations over this period,” he added.

As for November’s patterns, the 1-percent drop was less than the softening analysts were predicting prior to the storm (a 2.1-percent decline), but on par with their adjustments after Sandy.

“Prior to Hurricane Sandy, it was expected that the already taunt relationship between used-vehicle supply and demand would see little change in the trend of depreciation outperforming historical levels, but the destruction left by the storm has exacerbated this situation and there has been a predictable reaction in used prices,” said Banks.

He added: “At just 1.0 percent, used-vehicle depreciation in November was decidedly better than the 2.1-percent decline expected for the month before Sandy’s arrival and the one-point or $155 improvement in depreciation was in line with NADA’s post-storm estimated lift of 0.5 to 1.5 percent.”

Stay tuned to Auto Remarketing for more analysis on wholesale pricing patterns.