The pace for the wholesale used vehicle market slowed for the first time in more than a month this past week.
According to BlackBook’s weekly market insight, wholesale prices grew another 0.43 percent. That followed a growth of 0.51 percent last week.
“The market continued to increase last week, but the rate of gain slowed down slightly,” BlackBook reported. “Despite the market reporting the smallest single week increase in a month, the gains still remain far larger than what is typically experienced this time of year.”
Wholesale car prices increased by 0.52 percent or $82. Eight of nine car categories increased. Sports cars saw a 0.91 percent jump or $198 and full-size cars 0.92 percent or $160.
Premium sports cars dropped 0.03 percent or $17.
Truck and SUVs had a spike of 0.39 percent or $84. Minivans grew by 1.12 percent or $192. Full-size luxury crossover SUVs gained $208 in price. Full-size pickups were up $114.
The sales rate at auctions fell to 51 percent from 52 percent last week.
“We saw auction conversion rates drop slightly for the second straight week,” BlackBook reported. “Could ‘’Spring Break’’ be a factor on the conversion rate? We did notice fewer online buyers this week, compared to past weeks. With that said, full-size trucks continue to perform well, as prices move upward for the seventh week in a row. More 2023’s vehicles are rolling through the lanes now and getting a lot of attention, some still selling at or over original MSRP. The wholesale market has slowed down a little the two past weeks but don’t be surprised when it bounces back.”
Retail prices for vehicles 2- to 6-years old moved to 1.02 on the used retail price index, the high point for the year. The retail inventory remained at 0.95 on the index. Vehicles are taking 55 days to turn, an increase of three days from last week.
BlackBook this past week released its used vehicle retention index for March, with values growing 2.9 percent from February, hitting 175.7 on the index. It’s the highest point on the index since September.
The index measures the trend in percent retention from original MSRP of a typical 4-year old vehicle in the market.
