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FREDERICK, Md. — The second quarter saw a continuation of the year-over-year decline in auction volume, albeit at a less steep slope than the first quarter. However, there still remains stability on the gross value front, according to the National Auto Auction Association's latest Auction Industry Report.

Specifically, auction volume was down 6.7 percent year-over-year. The drop-off in the first quarter was at 9.4 percent.

"On a gross value basis, the auction industry recovery is clearer with dollar sales down less than 2 percent in the second quarter as a price increase of 5.1 percent offset much of the volume decline," explained Ira Silver, NAAA economist.

Looking at how volume varied by region, some areas were stronger than others, though all showed declines. The Northeast, for instance, was relatively steady from the second quarter (down 0.2 percent), but volume in the Southeast — which had the sharpest decline — dropped 12.3 percent.

The North Central region — which was the heaviest decliner in the first quarter — was off 9.2 percent in auction volume.

Meanwhile, volume in the Far West fell 8.2 percent year-over-year, and volume in the Southwest declined 4.6 percent.

Moving on to seller types, the second quarter marked the fourth straight period where the dealer consignment segment was the only one to show an upswing. Volume in this category was up 8.6 percent, and this mirrored the uptick in new-vehicle sales, which means more trade-ins.

Fleet/lease volume was off 16.2 percent year-over-year in the second quarter and down 14.5 percent year-to-date, while manufacturer/factory volume dipped 27.1 percent and 36.4 percent for those respective metrics.

As far as repossession volume, which dipped 15.4 percent in the second quarter, Silver said: "The improving economy reduced repos by almost 11 percent in the first half, after a 32-percent increase in 2009."

Continuing on to look at vehicle segments, CUV volume climbed 1.8 percent in the second quarter, and was the only segment to show a gain. And while passenger car volume softened 3.2 percent, that decrease was small compared to the 17.1 percent decline in van volume, the 14.2-percent dip in SUV volume and the 11.7-percent decrease for pickups.

Pricing

Next up, NAAA talked about prices during the period, which marked the fifth straight quarter of increases. Specifically, prices were up 5.1 percent compared to the second quarter of 2009 and have climbed 6.3 percent year-to-date. All regions and vehicle segments were up in price during the second quarter, and all categories of sales except for repossessions climbed in price, as well.

"In a free market as we have in auto auctions, unit volume can be down because demand is weak or supply is limited compared to demand," Silver shared.

"In 2008, unit volume and average prices declined, indicating that demand was weak," he added. "However, in the past five quarters volume has continued declining, while prices have increased significantly, suggesting that supply problems are a large factor in the volume weakness."

Breaking it down by region, the North Central showed the biggest upswing (up 8.3 percent from a year ago) in the second quarter, followed by the Southeast (up 6.6 percent), Southwest (5.8 percent), Northeast (2.9 percent) and Far West (2.8 percent).

With regards to sales types, manufacturer/factory sales were up the most in price (16.1 percent), followed by dealer consignment units (10.2 percent) and fleet/lease sales (8.1 percent).

Prices in repossession sales fell 3.3 percent.

Looking at vehicle segments, van prices had the steepest climb (9.2 percent), followed closely by CUVs, whose prices jumped 9 percent. SUV prices rose 5.7 percent, pickups climbed 4.4 percent and the incline in passenger car prices was 3.2 percent.