Average wholesale vehicle prices fell nearly 10% year-over-year last month and remain on the downward slope for June, according to the latest Kontos Kommentary analysis from ADESA chief economist Tom Kontos.

Specifically, average wholesale prices were at $16,116 in May, which was down 2.2% from April and 9.7% softer than May 2022, Kontos’ report said.

And the first half of June is showing even softer prices. In fact, Kontos points out that for the week ending June 18, they were at $15,204.

(It should be noted that May’s wholesale prices were still 38.7% higher than pre-pandemic levels, per Kontos’ report).

Likewise, the latest Black Book Market Insights report shows that wholesale prices for the week ending June 17 were down 0.38%, compared to a 0.37% decline the prior week. During the same week of 2017-2019, prices were down an average of 0.27%, Black Book said.

Of the 22 segments included in the Black Book analysis, 21 showed price declines the week of June 17. The only one to rise was the small pickup segment (up 0.11%).

The estimated average weekly sales rate at auction was 47%.

Adding some context around these numbers, Black Book analysts said in the report: “There are still a lot of IF’s and NO sales at most of the auctions across the country, which is reflected in the lower conversion rates we have seen in the last two weeks.

“Prices in nearly all of the segments are dropping but the adjustments are not dramatically different from what is typical for this time of year (pre-pandemic),” they said. “Auction inventory appears to be increasing at some auctions, this may be due to the increase of repossessions hitting the lanes.”

In a related analysis, Cox Automotive said its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index for the first half of June was off 3.2% from May and fell 9.4% from the full month of June 2022 (when adjusting for mix, mileage and seasonality).

Unadjusted, prices were down 2.6% from May and 9.1% from June 2022.

“Wholesale values declined in first half of June, continuing the slide we saw in April and May,” Cox Automotive said in a summary of its Manheim Market Insights report for June mid-month. “While the official CPI report saw used vehicle prices higher in the last two months, Manheim values are moving down.”

For historical context, the Manheim index through mid-June (217.3) is still much higher than pre-pandemic levels. The annual average in 2018 was 148.0, and in 2019,  the index averaged 151.5 for the year.

That climbed to 164.3 in 2020 before jumping to 217.8 in 2021 and 235.5 last year, according to the Cox Automotive data.