Perhaps along with concerts and other summertime giveaways, auction general managers could promote their operations to consignors and dealers nowadays by saying, “Find some stability in the car business by coming to sale day.”

Those pitches would be supported by the latest information from Black Book’s Market Insights, which indicated overall wholesale values softened by 0.24% last week as the auction conversion rate improved to 62%, which was 3 percentage points higher than the prior week.

“Wholesale market conditions remained stable this week,” analysts said in their report released on Tuesday, “signaling healthy buyer participation despite continued seasonal depreciation.

“Vehicle values continued to soften at a pace consistent with historical trends, as car values declined 0.13% and truck values fell 0.28%, while buyers remained highly selective and focused on condition, profitability, and retail demand,” Black Book continued.

“Buyer participation remained strong across both physical and digital lanes, though bidding activity continued to be highly selective and condition sensitive,” analysts added.

Looking at some specific vehicle segments uncovered these trends of interest, including:

—Values for sporty cars that are between 8 and 16 years old increased by 0.16%, as prices for these specific units now have risen during 14 of the past 16 weeks.

—Prices for full-size pickups paced the value declines in the truck department last week, sliding by 0.52%. That drop followed a 0.46% decrease during the prior week.

“Pressure persisted on 2022–2023 crossover inventory, reflecting elevated supply levels and softer demand relative to other vehicle categories,” Black Book said. “In contrast, newer 2024–2025 model-year vehicles continued to outperform older inventory, demonstrating stronger retail demand and more consistent pricing performance. The growing divide between new and aged inventory highlights buyers continued focus on turn rates, profitability, and retail desirability.

“Car segment values remained under pressure last week, as just one of nine 2-to-8-year-old segments posted a gain. The 0-to-2-year-old and 8-to-16-year-old categories performed modestly better, with two segments in each age group recording value increases,” analysts continued.

“The late-model compact luxury crossover/SUV segment was the only 0-to-2-year-old segment to post a gain last week, rebounding after two consecutive weeks of declines,” Black Book added.

Analysts closed out their latest report by noting that the estimated used retail days to turn is now at roughly 34 days.

With Father’s Day straight ahead and Fourth of July weekend not far away, Black Book reiterated, “As always, our team of analysts are focused on keeping their eyes on the market for developing trends and gathering insights.”