CARY, N.C. -

May was the fourth straight record month for the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, which hit the 200 mark for the first time ever, spokespeople with parent company Cox Automotive confirmed.

The index reading for May was 203.0, which beat year-ago figures by 48.2%.

Adjusting for mix, mileage and seasonality, there was a 4.65% lift in wholesale prices from April, Manheim said.

In addition to the aforementioned 48.2% overall year-over-year gain in wholesale prices, Manheim shared how various market classes performed. The most notable change was for pickup trucks, whose prices soared 70% from May 2020.

SUV/CUV prices were up 43.1% and the remaining segments in the data set showed hikes hovering in the 40% range.

Compact cars were up 39.7%, midsize cars were up 40.4%, luxury cars climbed 40.2% and vans jumped 39.8%.

Looking at weekly price movements in the Manheim Market Report, the company said there was some easing in the hikes as May wore on.

“Manheim Market Report (MMR) prices saw weekly increases in May that slowed as the month progressed. Over the four full weeks of May, the Three-Year-Old Index increased 6.2%,” Manheim said in the index’s analysis. “Over the month of May, MMR Retention, which is the average difference in price relative to current MMR, averaged 100.9%. The sales conversion rate also slowed as the month progressed but remained higher than is typical for the month of May.”

Meantime, over at Black Book, its index measuring used-vehicle prices also reached a fourth straight record. Specifically, its Used Vehicle Retention Index came in at 159.6, as previously reported by Auto Remarketing.

That beat April figures by 4.7% and was up 50.6% year-over-year.

And speaking of records breaking, KAR Global chief economist Tom Kontos noticed this one in the April/May edtion of his Kontos Kommentary. 

"Average wholesale used vehicle prices cracked the $14,000-mark for the first time ever in April and then proceeded to set new highs above $15,000 in May. This is the latest sign of the seemingly never-ending rise in wholesale values resulting from a deluge in demand and a drought in supply," Kontos said in the report highlighted by Auto Remarketing here.