CARY, N.C. -

On the auction block, on the dealer lot and in the consumer’s driveway: used-car prices are going up, and in some cases, breaking records.

Starting on the wholesale side of the market, the Black Book Used Vehicle Retention Index, which was released Monday, has now reached a record high for three straight months.

Coming in at 189.9 points for November, this marked a 9.7-point (or 5.4%) month-over-month increase and a 45.4% year-over-year spike.

“With no short-term resolutions to new inventory problems, dealers are continuing to spend money on used inventory, pushing wholesale prices up to new records across all segments in November,” Black Book chief data science officer Alex Yurchenko said in a news release.

“Cars of all sizes and vans had the largest increases as used and new inventory in those segments declined to much lower levels compared to other segments of the market,” Yurchenko said. “We expect the used-car prices to increase again in December, but at a much lower rate as the volume of new inventory is starting to level off and consumer demand is softening a bit with record breaking used retail prices.”

Speaking of retail prices, iSeeCars.com analyzed more than 1.9 million November sales of used vehicles ages 1 to 5 and determined they fetched an average of $31,848.

This was 27.9% higher than the average selling price in November 2020. And in October, prices for the same group of used vehicles was up 24.9% year-over-year, according to iSeeCars.

“Used car prices had drifted down, slightly, since they peaked in June, but they are back on the rise again, with the average used vehicle priced nearly over $7,000 above where it was last November,” iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer said in an analysis.

“With microchip shortage-related plant shutdowns persisting throughout the year, automakers have not kept pace with pent-up demand, and lingering supply constraints that are expected to continue well into 2022,” he said.

Used cars are also fetching a pretty penny when consumers trade them in, according to an analysis late last month from J.D. Power.

The firm said in a forecast released Nov. 24 that trade-in values were likely to reach an average of $9,549 for the month, an 83% year-over-year increase. And here’s the kicker: monthly average trade-in values had never before eclipsed $9,000, J.D. Power said.