Impact of the 'Fifth Week' in January

January is now in the pages of history and the market results were slightly different from what was traditionally expected, according to Black Book. The first two weeks reported previously, didn’t get us the first of the year uptick in values, but the next couple of weeks have brought better retention.

"This year, the way the calendar fell brought some auctions an extra sale day for the month and a fifth week of sale activity," according to Ricky Beggs, VP and managing editor for Black Book. "For years, we as the Black Book editors, have witnessed good values during the last week of the month, but generally less auction activity and slightly lower conversion rates. This is even more visible when that last week is the extra fifth week of the month."

This past week the value changes were very similar to the previous week for both cars and trucks, with both segment types also close to the average segment change amounts of one year ago, according to Black Book. 

The cars finished at -$46 and -0.31 percent. One year ago the level of change was -$54 and -0.38 percent. The most consistent car segment type over the past month was with the Compact Cars (SCC) which declined by -$26 this past week while averaging -$28 for the past four weeks.

The trucks continue a very stable market trending pattern in overall average change at -$27 with the average change since the first of the year being an identical -$27. Even with four truck segment types declining -$10 or less for the week, this was the first week since the week ending November 30, 2012, without at least one truck segment type with an increasing amount.

"With variations in the market and also the overall consistency in value changes this past week, as I looked at the various comments provided within the Black Book survey personnel, there was one topic that was mentioned way more than any other," Beggs noted. "It was even talked about at the auction I attended this past week. Twenty of the written reports highlighted comments about the weather. From the 'bitter cold' to 'heavy rain,' 'steady snow,' and 'very windy,' the weather was a factor. It probably even kept some dealers away from the lanes. Or do we relate the lagging conversion to the fifth week of the month?"

View this weeks "Beggs on the Market" video below: