LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -

That headline you just read is part of the blunt assessment of the wholesale market Black Book gave as part of its newest installment of Market Insights released on Tuesday.

That observation came even as analysts saw wholesale prices dip for the third week in row to start the year.

“Auction lanes almost seem to be a secondary source for inventory for franchise and independent dealers as quality lease returns continue to be scarce,” Black Book said in the report. “Franchise dealers are having more luck cherry-picking upstream, while independents spend more advertising dollars to purchase direct from consumer.

“Rental companies are still in lane trying to pick up vehicles to better accommodate increasing demand due to an influx of travelers,” Black Book continued. “Open recall units, damaged vehicles and even repossessions are becoming normalized purchases as the semiconductor chip shortage continues to plague manufacturers.

“With such a limited supply of vehicles available, floor prices remain higher than many buyers are willing to pay,” Black Book went on to say. “Whereas vehicle values continuously increased during the majority of the pandemic, in 2022, week-over-week values have been on the decline for a majority of segments, which is more typical of traditional seasonality expectations.”

Now that Black Book set the scene, let’s get into some of the specific price movements analysts tabulated for the week that closed on Saturday.

On a volume-weighted basis, Black Book reported that overall car values decreased 0.26% with eight of the nine segments softening.

Analysts said prices for midsize cars declined the most last week, sliding 0.43%, followed closely by sporty cars (0.39%) and luxury cars (0.36%).

The only car segment moving in a positive direction was subcompact cars, which produced a value uptick of 0.10%, according to Black Book.

Meanwhile, Black Book’s volume-weighted information showed an overall value drop of 0.13% for trucks with 11 of the 13 segments moving lower.

With price rise of 0.37%, Black Book said values for full-size vans now have risen week-over-week for an entire year, generating an average weekly gain of 0.62%.

Minivans are on a notable value rise run, too, as analysts said prices for those units ticked up another 0.10%, extending the streak to 24 weeks in a row.

The truck segment to decrease most last week was sub-compact crossovers, which declined by 0.39%, according to Black Book.