Down, but not out.

That’s one consensus from two reports in the past week from Cox Automotive examining the general state of affairs in the used-car market.

The pace of used-car sales last month improved from May, but thanks to high interest rates, fuel costs and price tags, actual sales volumes are lagging.

That's according to the company’s Data Point report on Friday, which estimates there were 3.21 million overall used-car sales in June.

That sum is down from 3.26 million used sales in May and 3.38 million in June 2021.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate for used-vehicle sales was at 38.8 million last month, improving upon the 37.8 million SAAR in May and down from the 40.8 million SAAR a year ago.

Looking at retail used-car sales (those involving a dealer), there were 1.69 million used sales last month, down from 1.72 million in May, according to the Cox report.

In June 2021, there were 1.76 million.

The used retail SAAR came in at 20.5 million last month, up from 19.9 million in May and down from 21.3 million a year ago.

“Delayed tax returns may have extended the spring selling season by a few weeks. However, higher interest rates, coupled with high gasoline prices and high vehicle prices, are keeping used sales in Q2 low,” Cox Automotive senior economist Charles Chesbrough said in a news release.

“And, unlike last year, there are no stimulus checks to provide some support.”

In the first half of the year, there were just under 19.2 million overall used-car sales, 10.13 million of which were sold via dealerships, according to the Cox data.

The company says that at this pace, overall used-car sales would end 2022 more than 12% than 2021.

Still, there remains some bright spots.

In Monday’s installment of the Cox Automotive Monthly Industry Update Video Series, senior industry insights manager Chris Frey said: “I’ll start off with the fact that the used market continues to move along, and better than the new market, even while consumer sentiment suggests otherwise.”

Amid macro-economic factors like inflation, gas prices and the war in Ukraine, Frey says, “Used sales continue to do well, despite the prevailing conditions and it’s likely to continue, given the lack of supply on the new side.”

Used-car supply, while still soft, is improving.

Available used-car supply has trended downward since late February, but it is currently beating year-ago figures by 5%, Chris Frey said, adding there were roughly 2.4 million units available.

Meanwhile, days supply — which was down sequentially — was up 27% year-over-year, and beating earlier figures, as well.

“We are tracking above 2019 levels of 45 days, currently at 49 right now. This is as close to normal as we have been in some time in the used market,” Frey said.

“Speaking of normal, while the used market has been a bit softer than usual this year, it is not experiencing stress,” he said. “Quite the opposite.”

Frey later explained that looking at 2022 used-car sales as a percentage of 2019 sales, “things are moving toward 2019 levels.”

And moving toward the way things were in 2019, in most any economic segment, is probably a good thing.