Beyond wholesale prices — which ticked up 0.13% last week — two other key metrics Black Book tracks for each edition of Market Insights are the auction conversion rate and the estimated used retail days to turn.

And both of those trends moved lower a week ago, prompting analysts to declare an “increasingly retail-aligned buying environment.” That’s because last week’s auction conversion rate dropped 1 percentage point to 62%, while the estimated used retail days to turn softened for the second consecutive week and is now at roughly 39.5 days.

“Wholesale values were largely stable week-over-week, with overall cars slipping just 0.02% while trucks extended gains, rising 0.18%, as newer inventory continued to outperform older units,” Black Book said in the report. “Strength was concentrated in late-model segments, including a sixth consecutive gain for 0-to-2-year-old mid-size cars and continued momentum in full-size pickups and full-size vans.”

When explaining the movement in the auction conversion rate, analysts said it’s “reflecting a firm and efficient market where disciplined buyers remained focused on clean, low-mileage inventory, even as trends tracked closely with typical pre-pandemic seasonality.

“Buyers remained disciplined, particularly on higher-priced units,” Black Book went on to say. “Mileage and trim positioning continued to drive differentiation, especially beyond the 30,000-mile threshold, where condition sensitivity increased. Auction participation remained strong, supporting deeper bidder pools and steady absorption rates. Core segments held stable pricing, with most transactions clustering between average and clean book values.

“Base trims, sedans, and higher-mile units faced more selective demand in an increasingly retail-aligned buying environment,” analysts added.

A couple of other specific vehicle segments made notable value moves a week ago, including:

—Subcompact cars between 8 and 16 years old: up 0.53%

—Full-size vans less than 2 years old: Up 0.37%, marking the largest single-week increase for the segment since May 2024

With auctions and dealers already getting set to close the books for February on Saturday, Black Book had these closing thoughts.

“Overall, the wholesale market remains firm and efficient — not declining, but refining under confident, disciplined buyers,” Black Book said. “As always, our team of analysts are focused on keeping their eyes on the market for developing trends and gathering insights.”