We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: people are spending more money on fewer cars. In May 2026, total dollar volume crossed half a billion dollars, up 26% from May of last year and the strongest May we have seen in five years. The average sale price climbed right alongside it, up 28% to roughly $72,000.
This is not just inflation – US inflation has been running near 3-4% over the past year (US Inflation Calculator). That said, it’s not all straight appreciation either. We are seeing a shift toward higher-value cars pulling the average up. 2026 is a market with a heavier mix of pricier cars, rather than all cars suddenly being worth 28% more.
In terms of total listing – the number got a little smaller, but more of them crossed the finish line. Total listings fell about 8% and sold listings dipped about 2% versus last May – yet the sell-through rate was 72.5%, its best May reading in five years.
A lot of that strength came from the live auctions, where sellers moved fewer cars at in the higher value tiers. Online sales, meanwhile, kept doing what they have done ever since the Pandemic in 2020: climbing steadily and selling more cars than the year before.
Top 10 Sales in May
Much like the rest of 2026, the top of the leaderboard was a Ferrari show. Remember that jump in average prices from earlier? A big reason is that many of the pricier cars changing hands this year have been Ferraris, which are riding a real market surge, and May was no different.
A 1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider led the way at $18.15M, and Ferraris took six of the top ten spots, including big-name hypercars like the Enzo, F50, LaFerrari, and a pair of F40s.
Most of the action happened in the live auction tent rather than online. Mecum’s Indy sale alone accounted for seven of the ten. The only online sale to crack the list was a 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport that brought $4.4M on Bring a Trailer.
#1 Online / #8 Overall
#2 Online / #22 Overall
#3 Online / #31 Overall
New Market Records set in May
Not every record-breaker carries a seven-figure price tag. Our market busters are the sales that set a new high for a specific make and model, and in May they came from every corner of the hobby. Some were everyday enthusiast cars that finally had their moment, and others were rare machines that pushed an already hot segment even higher.
While the Top 10 Sales in May were almost all live auction sales, the Market Records flip that script. About 64% of these record-setters sold online, and Bring a Trailer alone accounted for more than half the entire list. So while the biggest checks still get written in the auction tent, the everyday and enthusiast cars are setting fresh records online.
Top 10 Flips & Flops in May
And we can’t forget about everyone’s favorite lists… .the flips and flops!
Each month, we track “Flips” and “Flops,” which we define as cars with documented previous sale records. This enables us to calculate the net gain or loss and the time elapsed since the last sale. While some purists argue that a genuine Flip/Flop occurs only within a 12-month timeframe from the previous sale, we believe this list offers entertainment and valuable insights that a narrower window would overlook. Admittedly, it’s plausible that cars have changed hands in private transactions between these public listings; nonetheless, this data provides valuable insights into which cars have realized significant gains or losses compared to their previous sales. Enjoy this data at your own discretion.
Flips
Flops
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Results are included from the following auctions in May 2026:
Online Auctions:
* A Market on CLASSIC.COM is a grouping of comparable vehicles that have, at a minimum, the same Make, Model, and Model Generation. When relevant for purposes of valuation, a Market may be further segmented by Model Variant, Trim, Transmission Type, Body Style, and other factors.
**The CLASSIC.COM Market Benchmark (CMB) is a benchmark value for vehicles in a given Market based on data accumulated by CLASSIC.COM and calculated by a proprietary algorithm that takes into account volume and recency of each data point. CMB can be used to assess the performance of a market over a given time period. However, it does not represent the value of a specific vehicle.
Read more in our Glossary of Terms
