Vehicles that were taken out of commercial, government, and daily rental fleets and sold at auction in July were worth 8.1% more than they were a year ago and 0.4% more than in June, according to Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

These vehicles were worth significantly more that vehicles from manufacturer or dealer consignors. The used vehicle values of manufacturer vehicles were up 3.4% from a year ago and up 3.3% from June, while values of dealer vehicles were down 2.3% from a year ago and up 2% from June.

The results were part of a summer selling season that has seen used vehicles perform solidly at least in part due to affordability challenges with new vehicle pricing. In his monthly commentary, Kontos also said the solid summer market is due to "a shift in sales mix towards the truck model classes and the continued influx of younger off-lease vehicles, both of which have been tending to drive up average prices."

Wholesale vehicles averaged $10,902 in July, a level that was fractionally above a year ago (0.1%) and June (also 0.1%). Truck models made up 53% of auction units, which was above the 50% portion from a year ago.

Typical fleet segments performed well in July with midsize cars increasing 5.9% to $12,169 and midsize SUVs increasing 2.2% to $20,541. The strong prices for the segments shows that upstream sales have prevented an oversupply of off-lease units from reaching the auction lots, Kontos said.