MARKHAM, Ontario -

Wholesale vehicle prices in Canada have climbed four consecutive weeks, amid tight supply that’s often gobbled up as soon as buyers can get their hands on a vehicle.

That’s according to the latest Canadian Auto Market Update from Canadian Black Book, which said overall wholesale vehicle prices climbed 0.21% last week.

That’s up from a 0.16% increase the week before. The average movement for the same week of the 2017-2019 time frame was a dip of 0.24%.

Truck/SUV values showed especially strong price growth, climbing 0.32% after increasing 0.14% the week before. Cars were up 0.09%, CBB said, slower than the 0.19% uptick the prior week.

“The Canadian wholesale market continued to increase for the fourth straight week after five weeks of overall market declines and one week of stability,” CBB said in the report.

“This past week, most segments reported increasing values. Supply remains low with demand slightly picking up on both sides of the border,” analysts added. “Upstream channels continue to tap supply before it can be available to wholesale markets. “

As you might expect, CBB has also seen a rise in conversion rates at the auction, following “inconsistent sales” in recent weeks. In fact, there were instances of conversion rates in the 80% range, it said, as the limited number of low-mileage, good-condition vehicles generated a lot of interest.

“In general, the quality of vehicles at auction remains somewhat below average as the supply of better-quality vehicles continues to be bought upstream,” CBB said.

Breaking down the price movement by segment, there were increases in each of the 13 truck/SUV segments in CBB’s data.

That includes the full-size crossover/SUV segment, which showed the most growth at 0.59%.

Most of the car segments were up, too, with the midsize cars leading the way with 0.55% growth. The two decliners were the prestige luxury cars (down 0.37%) and sporty cars (down 0.16%).