Here is this week's Used Car Market Report with the latest data from Black Book. It has been an extremely busy week for the Editors at Black Book attending physical auctions and watching other auctions online, while also analyzing thousands of records from remarketing data feeds from all across the country, We even had the opportunity to get hands on insight into a couple of significantly refreshed models that are soon to be hitting the new car market through the franchised dealers. Getting this in-depth look is just another factor in Black Book having accurate forecasting of residual values for the leasing industry and risk analysis portions of the industry.
Over the past couple of weeks we have noticed a softening of the market with values and sales conversions. But don’t be alarmed with this trend, as we see it as part of the normal expected depreciation. The resulting numbers this past week are very similar to year ago levels. Please stay with me as we give you a more focused view of the market.
The car segments came in at an overall segment average change of -$58, a slight increase in softening values of the previous week of -$46, with the year ago change level of -$40. As the values soften, this past week was also the first time in the past three months when there were no individual cars segments with increasing changes.
The segment with the smallest week over week change was the Entry Level Cars at -$4. Of the segments with the greater volatility the Prestige Luxury Cars and the Premium Sporty Cars came in at -$134 and -$135 respectively, which was also similar to the previous week change levels. A segment with an unexpected level of change was with the Upper Mid-size Cars, with a percentage change of -.43%, right at the same percentage level change of the Prestige Luxury Cars, which was -.46%.
The truck market was much more stable than the cars with the weekly average segment change improving from the previous week at only -$5, which is much better than year ago levels of -$24. Five segments continued to show positive levels for the week. These included the four van segments, along with the Full-sized Pickups which increased week over week by $40. The Full-size Pickups have increased in average price for the past nine weeks. The interest and need for this segment we feel continues to be driven by an improving overall economy, construction in both commercial and residential construction, along with the service industries.
As an overall view, the changes in values required a significant number of adjustments. With over 2000 vehicle listings changed each day throughout the past week this was the most during the past five weeks. With cars declining more, and the trucks just slightly less week over week, the percentage of adjustments being increases was the second lowest in the past twelve weeks, back to the week ending February 21, 2014, and just larger at 44% than the level two weeks ago when the increases came in at 40% of the changes. The bottom line is the spring tax season strength is now in the history books and we are seeing a new trend, more consistent depreciation overall as we head into the summer season.
The numbers show us the market is moving and the sellers have realized the movement had to begin with them by having a lower floor. But for sure it is not just a market to unload, just a time to adjust to move a little more inventory.
Thank you for tuning in and listening to our thoughts on the market. We will be looking for you on the auction lanes and airwaves again this week. Have a great day!