BANDON, Ore. — November was a turnaround month for independent dealerships, which realized a slight uptick in used-vehicle sales from a year ago, CNW Research reported last week. The firm also noted an increase in transaction prices from a year ago.

Versus a year ago, actual transaction prices for independent operations rose 2.8% in November, while sales inched up 0.3% from the same period one year ago.

“Independent dealers have been taking it on the chin for the past few months, seeing volumes decline versus 2013 on a regular basis — often double-digit declines,” CNW’s Art Spinella wrote in the firm’s monthly newsletter. “November, however, was a turnaround month for indies …”

Private sales, or what the firm refers to as “casual sales,” were down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis, cutting the segment’s full-year sales increase to less than 3%. The story was different for new-car dealers in November, Spinella noted.

“[Used-car operations at new-car dealerships] were on the positive side of sales and should see a near 2% increase for the full month to 1.226 million units,” Spinella wrote. “Prices also were up slightly versus a year ago by 1.2%.”

For the entire industry, floor traffic continued to slide in the first two 10-day periods of November. “… But it continued to hover in the 100 range,” Spinella noted. “The opening days of the third 10-day period, however, showed an improvement.”

Spinella also reported that days’ supply slipped by about 5.6%, which he attributed to dealers tightening up their inventories.