GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

In evaluating pricing trends in the wholesale marketplace over the past week, Black Book’s Ricky Beggs spotted a first for 2011: The values in each of the 10 car segments that Black Book monitors climbed last week.

“The activity at many auctions could easily be described as amazingly strong,” said Beggs, Black Book’s managing editor. “Conversion rates continue to confirm that it is truly a sellers’ market. This is especially true for almost any car segment vehicle.”

He added: “Even the prestige luxury cars finished at $5 on the upward side, which is a change in the normal trending for this segment type.”

The car segment with the most growth was the entry midsize car category, which climbed $88. In fact, six car segments showed gains of at least $50.

Overall, the change for the 10 car segments was an upward movement of $48. The overall car value change has been an increase for three straight weeks, Beggs pointed out.

“With comments like ‘it was retail at the wholesale auctions’ coming from a dealer at an East Coast auction site, all across the country to the West Coast the market was described as ‘cars are going up rapidly, while trucks are easing down slowly,’” Beggs shared.

“These comments really are reflected in the actual auction results and adjusted Black Book values,” he added.

Moving on to dissect the truck side of the market in more detail, Beggs found that the 14 segments Black Book tracks showed “mixed trends.”

Full-size crossovers showed the heftiest gain as their values climbed $54, followed by compact crossovers, which moved ahead $45.

“These functional vehicle types, with very acceptable fuel economy levels, continue to attract attention on the auction lanes,” he pointed out.

Conversely, full-size SUVs showed the heftiest drop-off (down $35), and full-size pickups (down $25) were next on the list.

Trucks, overall, showed a positive change for the week (up $12), making it the first gain in six weeks.

Increases were seen in eight of 14 segments.

Continuing on, Beggs offered sympathy for the victims of the Japanese disaster this month: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people and businesses affected by the devastating earthquake in Japan.

“The potential widespread effects for new car supply, transaction values, and used car demand for both Japan based manufacturers and domestic models, due to vehicle and part availability, is yet to be determined,” he added. “The Black Book editors are focused on any possible reaction in the market and will immediately report the changes, if and as they occur.”