LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -

The wholesale market is proving to be one streaky environment this year.

Following the unprecedented run-up in wholesale values, Black Book reported Tuesday that prices continue to trend downward, as they dipped for the seventh week in a row.

Seven consecutive weeks also represent how long analysts have seen auction sales rates below 70%. During the week that ended Saturday, they moved up from 64% to 66%, “as sellers adjusted floors in reaction to the softening market,” according to analysts.

But Black Book detailed through its latest Market Insights that sales rates haven’t been above the 70% threshold since the close of June.

All told, overall wholesale values softened another 0.52%, according to Black Book’s newest report.

“Despite the larger than seasonally expected weekly declines, values of used vehicles across all segments remain at historically high levels,” analysts said.

“Price stabilization and softening is most prevalent on average to above average mileage units,” Black Book continued. “However, strength remains for vehicles with low mileage due to the continued lack of new inventory in the market.

“Additional pockets of strength are also being reported on select models such as 2500 and 3500 level trucks and specialty vehicles such as Corvettes,” analysts went on to say.

Looking closer at volume-weighted car values, Black Book said they declined 0.58%; not quite as much as a previous week’s decrease of 0.78%.

Another streak is building in the car space, as analysts determined that prices for subcompact cars decreased for the second consecutive week. The latest movement was down by 0.91%. Earlier this year, subcompact car values rose for 25 straight weeks.

Perhaps an inkling that summertime is winding down, Black Book noticed that sporty cars sustained the largest decline at 1.19%.

Meanwhile, Black Book’s volume-weighted truck data showed the segment declined 0.48% last week; slightly less than a week earlier when the drop was 0.54%.

Going counter to the entire market are values since analysts saw increases for minivans (up 0.49%), compact vans (up 0.06%) and full-size vans (up 0.51%).

Black Book pointed out that midsize crossovers experienced the largest decline among the 13 truck segments, posting a decrease of 0.86%.