Perhaps used-car managers at dealerships and futures traders on Wall Street are similar nowadays, based on what Black Book said is the current sentiment about new-car availability.

Analysts acknowledged in the newest installment of Market Insights distributed on Tuesday that “supply-chain issues continue to push the ‘return to normal’ new-vehicle production levels well into 2023.

“With these developments, the wholesale price gains continued last week, with the overall market experiencing an acceleration in the positive price movement that started three weeks ago,” Black Book continued about overall wholesale values lifting by another 0.21% during the span the closed Saturday.

In fact, Black Book said the price gain by cars doubled the overall market increase. On a volume-weighted basis, analysts found that overall car segment values jumped by 0.44%, with eight of nine car segments rising.

Compact cars led the way with a price spike of 0.92%, extending their streak of value gains to eight weeks in a row. The average increase during that streak has been 0.59%.

“Sporty cars are finally feeling the effects of warmer weather with values increasing for the last three weeks,” Black Book said in the report, noting the average weekly gain for those units was 0.16%.

Analysts added that premium sporty cars represented the only car segment to decline last week, as prices fell by another 0.23% last week after softening by 0.29% a week earlier.

Meanwhile in the truck department, Black Book said its volume-weighted data showed overall truck values increased 0.10%. But what caught analysts’ attention most was the slight uptick by full-size trucks (up 0.08%) that marked their first move higher since the last week of December.

Black Book mentioned full-size vans returned to increases last week, compiling a value gain of 0.36%. With the exception of minimal 0.01% decline, the segment is nearing 70 weeks of increases, according to analysts, which also pointed out that eight out of the 13 truck segments reported value rises.

Now with the estimated average weekly sales rate continuing to increase and now sitting at 72%, Black Book closed its latest update with its own future outlook within the context of the current wholesale market.

“Many new model year launches have been delayed until the second half of the year due to the same supply chain issues that have disrupted the automotive industry over the last two years,” analysts said. “The scarcity of new inventory continues to fuel increases in volume-weighted used-vehicle wholesale values. Fuel prices are up nationwide — nearly 10% in the last month — and consumers may be starting to consider the benefits that both hybrid and all-electric vehicles can offer.

“Volume in lane seems to be comparatively up but some have speculated that this may be due in part to reruns coming back through,” Black Book continued. “Low mileage, clean vehicles continue to be coveted by larger independent dealers and rental companies while other dealers target older, higher mileage vehicles that can be generally procured at a lower price. Lease returns are showing up from a majority of OEMs, indicating that franchise dealers are no longer purchasing every vehicle they can at grounding.

“One thing is certain in lanes today: there is no one-size-fits-all approach for buying inventory and sellers should take note,” Black Book went on to say.