Black Book pinpointed the reason why it’s been a brisk start to 2019 in the lanes.

Reinforced by the assessment of an auction general manager in the Southeast, Black Book executive vice president of operations Anil Goyal described the current wholesale market situation in the latest Market Insights report released on Tuesday.

“Lower floors at the start of the new year have kept the inventory moving faster,” Goyal said. “We are seeing higher sales rates, but lower prices at the auctions.”

And Black Book’s sale observer stationed in North Carolina shared this anecdote from the auction GM: “Our business has been really good as our sales percentages are between 60 and 70 percent. We are anticipating a continuance of this solid market through the winter and spring at least.”

Editors then shared the latest data, beginning with cars.

Volume-weighted, Black Book reported overall car segment values decreased by 0.74 percent last week. In comparison, market values for these had decreased by 0.64 percent on average during the prior four-week period.

Among cars, editors pointed out the luxury car and sporty car segments experienced the biggest drops, each sliding by 0.91 percent.

Again volume-weighted, Black Book determined overall truck segment values (including pickups, SUVs and vans) softened by 0.75 percent last week. That’s a notable jump from the average editors noticed during the past four weeks, which was 0.53 percent.

Within trucks, editors found that sub-compact crossovers sustained the greatest price decline, dropping by 1.65 percent.

To wrap up the latest report, Black Book representatives described activity in the lanes from two other places.

From Georgia: “Floors were down regardless of vehicle condition or model year, so the buyers felt they were paying fair prices for vehicles.”

From Pennsylvania: “Volume was up as was the dealer attendance both physically and online. The less expensive vehicles were bringing good money.”