ATLANTA -

After rising every month in the second quarter, Manheim said on Friday that wholesale prices are now at their highest level in more than four years.

Wholesale used vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage- and seasonally adjusted basis) increased for the third consecutive month in June, resulting in a Manheim Index reading of 126.2. Manheim explained that the latest wholesale price reading now is only 1.3 percent away from the record high reached in May 2011.

“There is still no doubt that the long-term trend for wholesale pricing is down, not up. So every modest step up now should be taken advantage of — and appreciated, as each is likely raising the floor to which prices will fall in this cycle,” Cox Automotive chief economist Tom Webb said in commentary that accompanied the latest Manheim Index update.

Webb also mentioned that unadjusted prices remain high, adding, “Naturally, unadjusted prices continued to rise faster than the Manheim Index, as the sales composition shifts toward more lower-mileage units and a higher commercial consignment share.”

Manheim determined that prices for pickups generated much of the most recent monthly rise. Pickup prices jumped 8.1 percent in June — the highest figure among four other major vehicle segments Manheim tracks that generated upticks last month.

Also moving higher in June were prices for vans (up 3.5 percent), SUV/CUV (up 1.3 percent), luxury cars (up 1.0 percent) and midsize cars (up 0.2 percent).

Only the 2.4 percent price softening by compact cars kept it from being a clean sweep of increases within the vehicle segment of the Manheim Index.

“All of the strength in wholesale pricing remains concentrated in pickups, vans and certain sports cars — the same segments that are enjoying the strongest increases in average new-vehicle transaction price,” Webb said. “Wholesale pricing for all other market classes is flat to down.

“Within price tiers, our analysis was mostly non-definitive, and not correlated with volume shifts,” he continued. “There was some additional weakness in the lower-middle price tier ($7,000 to $8,000 at wholesale), which could suggest some negative shifts in the subprime financing environment.”

Off-rental unit update

Manheim indicated lower mileage and better mix drove rental risk prices higher in June.

Webb noted a straight average of auction prices for rental risk units sold in June jumped nearly 18 percent from a year ago. Last June, the average mileage on rental risk units was a record-high 51,200 miles. This year, it fell to 38,500 miles — the lowest since December 2013.

“June’s mix of crossovers and vans was significantly higher, while the share of rental risk unit sales accounted for by midsize cars was down. Rental units being sold at auction this June were also in better condition,” Webb said.

“Rental risk auction prices, adjusted for broad changes in mix and mileage (but not condition), were flat in June relative to a year ago,” he continued. “They were up 2.2 percent from May, on significantly lower volume.”