Evidently, franchised dealerships are on the hunt for inventory, with independent stores and the new normal of 2002, those rental car companies, stepping back at the auction.

That’s the notable observation Black Book shared on Tuesday through its Market Insights that also detailed wholesale prices softening another 1.05% and the estimated average weekly sales rate dropping to 53% during the week that closed Saturday.

“With Halloween now behind us, as we move through November, auction activity seems to still be rather slow,” analysts said in the report that also pointed out that the estimated average weekly sales rate is approaching 50% for the first time since Christmastime 2020.

“Buyers are still showing up in expected numbers, but the average floor prices remain high,” Black Book continued. “Franchise dealers were unphased by the high floors however, and took control of the lanes last week, showing very competitive activity. Rental companies were noticeably absent along with the large independent dealers. The absence of the large independent dealers and rental companies did not affect sales rates, as they are still continually slowly decreasing. There were lots of if sales, which contributed to the ever-declining sales rates.

“It seems like buyers still have hope that the market is coming down and that sellers may be more willing to negotiate. Sellers may be holding their vehicles due to low inventory, but if they can negotiate, it is a win for both the buyer and seller. Inventory is still down, and the condition grades of offered vehicles have been lower than normal. Overall, the wholesale market is still following a downward trend,” analysts went on to say.

On a volume-weighted basis, Black Book indicated overall car segment values decreased more than the overall market, sliding by 1.28% with all nine segments softening.

Over the last four weeks, analysts said car segments have declined in price on average of 1.19% per week.

Black Book determined midsize cars sustained the largest value decline last week, dropping by 1.63%. They were followed by full-size cars (down 1.46%), compact cars (down 1.45%), and sub-compact cars (down 1.44%).

Analysts noted the luxury segments reported smaller price declines than the mainstream segments with values premium sporty car dipping 0.44% and prices for near luxury cars dropping 0.95%.

Values within all 13 truck segments declined again last week, as Black Book put the volume-weighted overall truck price decrease at 0.94%.

Taking the biggest price hit among trucks were minivans, which tumbled another 1.56% after 2.50% value drop during the prior week.

“Declines continued to be large last week, although overall, they were slightly less than the prior week’s adjustments,” Black Book said. “Many car segments are experiencing some of the largest declines we’ve seen since the early days of the pandemic. Looking back, however, compact cars experienced record level increases during the pandemic and went higher as fuel prices shot up earlier this year. So while the declines are large now, the values still remain well above pre-COVID levels.”