The U.S. auto dealership buy-sell market kept up a brisk pace in the first half of the year as consolidation continued amid seismic industry shifts.

Kerrigan Advisors recorded 224 transactions in the period, up 2% year-over-year, and 462 deals in the trailing 12 months, up about a percentage point and by 107% from the prepandemic average.

The sell-side brokerage firm sees buy-sell activity continuing at a healthy pace as retailers look to scale in increasingly competitive U.S. and global markets and others seek to bow out for related reasons.

Its second-quarter Blue Sky Report shows dealership purchase prices hitting record levels and larger shares of the retail market ending up in fewer hands.

Publicly held auto groups have paid a historic high of $119 million per store so far this year as they zero in on high-volume luxury and import dealerships in growing markets, especially where they already have footprints, according to Kerrigan.

Meanwhile, private groups took the greatest share of retail revenues, the top 100 collectively growing theirs by 16%, reported the firm, which said 64% of new-vehicle sales take place at less than a third – 31% – of dealerships.

That points up acquirers’ hunt for high-volume rooftops in their existing markets. Smaller private auto groups represented 77% of franchise purchases during the period.

Industry disruptions are inspiring more dealers to sell as global competition from Chinese automakers intensifies and the technology-driven reach of mega retailer Carvana expands, potentially inspiring automakers to overhaul their retail strategies, the firm said. The latter disruption seems more realistic given Carvana’s recent purchase of multiple Stellantis stores.

“Kerrigan Advisors expects the strength of today’s valuations to continue through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027, supported by buyers’ conviction that scale, market share and technology investment will increasingly determine future success,” the firm said.

Though average dealership blue-sky values are off their 2022 peak, Kerrigan said its Blue Sky Index still exceeds prepandemic levels by nearly 80%.