🚗May Market Insights: Wholesale Prices Align with Pre-Pandemic Trends

Wholesale Price Changes by Segment 

May saw car segment prices fluctuate but generally follow a downward trend. Newer cars (0-2 years old) experienced some early gains but ended the month slightly lower. Sporty cars were a bright spot, with prices rising steadily throughout May. Subcompact cars, on the other hand, saw consistent price drops throughout the month. Finally, after a strong showing in April, compact cars also started to see price declines by the end of May.

Wholesale Inventory

Used Retail Listing

Used Retail Days-to-Turn stayed relatively constant at around 40 days throughout the month, suggesting used car inventory on dealer lots turned over at a steady pace.

Used Vehicle Retention Index Decreased in April

“Although wholesale prices increased across almost all segments and age buckets in April, seasonally adjusted retention index declined slightly last month, indicating that price gains were weaker than during a ‘typical’ Spring Market,” said Alex Yurchenko, Chief Data Science Officer at Black Book. “The wholesale market picked up more steam in April with both improved sales rate and sold volume. In addition, vehicles were moving much faster off dealers’ lots (as measured by days-to-turn) as average listing price declined last month.”