Tuesday’s installment of Black Book’s Market Insights focused on the stretch between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve when some consignors and dealers might have been with family and friends rather than the auction lanes, prompting experts to call that annual stretch of the calendar a “toss-up.”

Black Book explained its methodology after noting wholesale values fell another 0.79% during the last week of 2022. But the estimated average weekly sales rate increased slightly to 46%.

“The week between Christmas and New Year’s is always a toss-up when it comes to market values. Some years see heavy depreciation due to high new-car incentives putting pressure on used values and other years see stronger demand for used vehicles as dealers prepare for the spring market,” Black Book said in the report.

“This year, there are no high incentives on new vehicles, but demand for used remains weak due to low consumer demand as a result of high interest rates,” analysts continued. “The one bright spot for the week was the small bump in conversion rates at the auction, but that comes with a caveat that overall volume for the week was lower. This is no surprise though, as many consignors are holding their inventory until the new year.”

On a volume-weighted basis, Black Book determined overall car segment values softened 0.77%, as all nine car segments decreased last week.

In fact, two of the nine segments sustained price declines of at least 1% with luxury cars falling 1.01% and sub-compact car dropping 1.00%.

The movement in the luxury car segment was the largest decline for the units since the first week of November when prices for those vehicles declined 1.31%.

Perhaps already an acknowledgement toward spring, Black Book pointed out that prices for premium sporty cars posted the smallest decline at 0.45%, as the segment has averaged a weekly value decline of 0.49% during the last six weeks.

In the truck department, Black Book’s volume-weighted data showed the overall truck segment decreased 0.80%, as all 13 segments moved lower.

Four truck segments sustained price declines of more than 1%, including:

—Full-size luxury crossover/SUV: down 1.38%
—Small pickup: down 1.23%
—Compact crossover: down 1.14%
—Midsize luxury crossover/SUV down: 1.07%