Hurricane Helene crashed into the Florida coast last Thursday, creating unprecedented damage in a wide swath of the Southeast.

After reviewing data from the week that closed on Saturday, Black Book already noticed the wicked storm influencing the wholesale market, with analysts predicting additional impact to prices and more going forward.

For now, Black Book said wholesale prices dropped another 0.19%, “though this is a slower decline than what is typical for this time of year.

“Looking ahead, regional differences may arise due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene throughout the Southeast last week,” analysts said in their newest installment of Market Insights.

Black Book already noticed last week’s auction conversion rate softened to 56%, down 2% from the prior week.

“Hurricane Helene recently hit Florida and several other Southern states, causing several auction closures and delayed openings in those regions,” analysts said in the report. “This contributed to the lower auction conversion rate observed last week.

“Furthermore, there will be a need to monitor auction lanes in the coming weeks for vehicles that may have been damaged by the hurricane,” Black Book added.

Before Helene even formed in the Caribbean, CARFAX highlighted how many water-damaged cars are still in operation and the top 10 states where they are located.

Whether it’s replacing a vehicle destroyed by a storm or for another reason, Black Book mentioned the estimated used retail days to turn is now at roughly 43 days.

Perhaps at least one segment turning quickly are compact cars since wholesale prices for those units keep rising.

Black Book reported values for compact cars climbed another 0.19%. During the past six weeks, analysts determined this segment has averaged a weekly increase of 0.11%.

However, Black Book noticed prices for subcompact cars paced the decreases for the eight of nine car segments that registered a value decline a week ago. Analysts pegged the latest drop for subcompacts at 0.43%.

Unlike other mainstream car segments, analysts said subcompact cars have been consistently declining for 25 consecutive weeks, with an average weekly drop of 0.48%.

In the truck department, Black Book reported that values for small pickups continue to be strong since prices for those units rose another 0.28%, representing the seventh consecutive week of gains with an average weekly increase of 0.31%.

Analysts added prices for compact vans tumbled the most last week, falling by 0.80%.

Reflecting on the past month, Black Book said, “the truck segment had a mixed performance. The first two weeks saw positive trends, but the segment closed out the last two weeks negatively.

“In contrast, the car segment remained mostly negative throughout the month,” analysts continued. “However, there was a consistent positive gain observed in the compact car and small pickup segments throughout the month.”

With many places throughout the Southeast still digging through mud, sand, trees and other debris, Black Book reiterated, “as always, our team of analysts are focused on the keeping their eyes on the market for developing trends and gathering insight.”