LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -

Black Book’s latest installment of Market Insights showed how dealerships now are paying nearly $27,000 for a piece of inventory that cost just $20,000 at the beginning of the year.

And there’s little evidence to refute the notion that the same unit might approach $30,000 soon stemming from the current pace of wholesale price increases.

“With so many newer used units selling at or above their respective new MSRP,” Black Book analysts began in the newest report, “the industry continues to question where the ceiling is, or if there is one?

“Unfortunately for buyers, the ceiling was not found this week,” they continued. “Instead, it was another strong week for wholesale values, which makes it 20 consecutive weeks of gains.”

Of course, dealerships can’t sell bare blacktop or gravel. Black Book shared some fresh anecdotes about how buyers and managers are potentially navigating through heartburn and headaches of finding better-quality inventory that’s high priced and scarce.

“Despite the limited inventory on dealer lots, dealer lanes continue to have higher volume at auction, while manufacturers’ remarketing lanes are offering less and less in open sales channels,” Black Book said.

“Many dealers are finding higher profit margins in the wholesale channel as opposed to their own retail lots. Dealers have found creative ways to diversify their source of inventory, and their innovation is paying off,” analysts continued.

“OEM remarketers are able to continue naming their price in the lanes for vehicles as a result of an extremely limited inventory pipeline,” Black Book went on to say. “Even if a vehicle does not sell this week, it is expected to sell in the near future as there are limited opportunities for dealers to procure inventory.”

Now let’s look at more specifics that dealers are currently paying for that inventory.

Black Book reported that overall car values on a volume-weighted basis rose another 0.97%, continuing to be firmly entrenched in that streak of 20 weeks in a row of rising prices.

Analysts noticed that the midsize and compact car segments posted the largest weekly gains at 1.15% and 1.14%, respectively.

And for buyers looking for whatever could be considered a bargain, Black Book mentioned that two car segments increased less than the overall reading. They were premium sporty cars (up 0.45%) and prestige luxury cars (0.44%).

Taking a look at trucks, Black Book said that on a volume-weighted basis, the overall truck segment increased 0.94% this past week; slightly lower than the prior week’s jump of 1.02%.

All 13 truck segments generated value gains last week, according to Black Book with five of them rising more than 1%.

Analysts said compact vans posted the highest gains for the week, climbing 1.59%, followed closely by full-size crossover/SUVs at 1.33%.

During this 20-week stretch, Black Book tabulated that subcompact crossover has had the highest cumulative total increase within the truck segments at more than 30%.