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GAINESVILLE, Ga. — There was downward movement in wholesale prices again this past week, as used values continued to experience pressure from stronger new-vehicle sales, according to Ricky Beggs, managing editor of Black Book. 

The phenomenon of brisk new sales in recent months has helped soften prices on the wholesale side lately, Beggs shared.

"Feedback from the Black Book survey personnel consistently indicated a 'lull in the auction' with 'cautious bidding,'" he said in the latest Beggs on the Used Car Market report.

"When one dealer said the 'late-model cars are a tough sell,' it was backed up when another said that 'some new cars are cheaper to buy than used,'" Beggs continued. "The combination of these two insights supports the notion that increased new-car sales of the last few months helped push down the used values during the most recent two weeks of market activity."

In fact, just a quarter of the near 1,110 daily value adjustments Black Book last made were positive changes. This points to a "continuation of a softer used market."

The average decrease Black Book made was $174. A week ago, the average decrease was $122.  Black Book said the overall change was a downward movement of $87. The week before, the decline was $57.

Breaking it down by vehicle category, the 10 car segments that Black Book tracks showed declines across the board. The overall decrease was $46, marking the heaviest decline in roughly four months, Beggs noted.

On the truck side of the market, 12 of the 14 segments Black Book tracks showed declines. The only two to move forward were compact pickups (up $10) and midsize pickups (up $6).

There was an overall decline of $41 among truck segments.

"With the overall truck segment dropping $41, this is another case where the decrease hasn't been at this level since the week ending Jan. 15, 2010," Beggs pointed out.

Of the 12 truck segments whose values dropped, the declines in 11 escalated from the week before. The only one of the declining segments whose softening grew less steep was the crossover category, whose value drop-off slowed from $30 to $26.

"As we look at the last two weeks of adjustments, the movement is very similar," Beggs commented. "As we report the market next week we'll see if two turns into three. Will a like pattern of changes for three weeks constitute a trend?"