CARY, N.C. -

Used vehicles moved off dealer lots in May four days quicker than they did in January and with price tags that were more than $3,000 higher.

That’s according to the latest monthly analysis from iSeeCars.com, which, among other metrics, measures how fast used cars sell, average prices, the specific models that move the quickest and the fastest-selling cars in specific markets.

The data is derived from more than 1.3 million new- and used-car sales last month; the used cars in the data are from the 2016-2020 model years.

The average time it takes to sell a used car has now dropped three months in a row, coming in at 34.7 days to sell in May.

It began the year at 38.9 days to sell in January and increased to 42.0 days in February, before falling each month since.

Meanwhile, the average price of used cars has increased each month since January, according to the iSeeCars data.

In January, the average price of a used car was $26,146. In May, it was $29,543.

That’s a swing of about 13%.

“The microchip shortage continues to impact new and used car sales, with new car inventory decreasing by 15.7 percent and used car inventory decreasing by 2.1 percent in May over April, intensifying the already high demand for used cars and driving up prices,” iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer said in the analysis.

 “For new cars, both higher-priced full-size SUVs and alternative fuel vehicles continue to be in high demand, striking an interesting dichotomy between practical and not-so-practical consumers,” he said.

The fastest-selling used car last month was the Mazda MX-5 Miata, which took an average of 19.5 days to sell. It was followed by the Tesla Model 3 (20.2 days) and the Chevrolet Corvette (21.8 days).

And within certain markets, the fastest-selling used vehicles were flying off dealer lots even more rapidly than that.

For instance, in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, the Toyota Prius Prime took an average of just 8.5 days to sell.

In Jacksonville, Fla., Nissan Maximas moved in just 8.9 days.

Over in the Music City, the Mercedes-Benz GLA was the fastest-selling used vehicle and sold in an average of just 9.3 days.

“Car buyers who are making a new or used car purchase might have difficulty finding the most in-demand vehicles, and may end up paying a premium for them in the used car marketplace amid microchip-related inventory constraints,” said Brauer. “Vehicle inventory is expected to remain tight for the remainder of the year, so consumers who are in the market for one of these fast sellers will need to act quickly when they see their desired car for sale.”