CINCINNATI—Car lease credit applicants registered a 65.2% approval rate in February, a rise from the January rate of 57.8%, according to a new report.
February saw a strong showing of applicants with qualified credentials to take over another person’s lease contract during the month. February also represented a strong month a year ago, when 72.2% of lease applicants were also approved, reported Swapalease.com.
“What made this February’s numbers even more impressive was that the number of applicants was similar to the volume seen in January. Typically, a higher volume of applicants will usually signal a down month, as the larger pool of applicants includes a higher number of individuals with less than qualified credit to take over a lease,” Swapalease.com stated.
Over the last three months and dating back to December 2017, the lease approval rate is registered at 62.1%. Lease approvals have been relatively stable with the exception of January, when a higher number of declined applicants pushed the rate down to 57.8%, Swapalease.com said.
“One area of consideration could be that February saw a slightly higher-than-average number of car shoppers applying for lease contracts on vehicles with payments under $499 per month,” the company said.
“Despite slightly falling sales figures at the dealership, which has an impact on overall lease levels, the appetite to take over an existing lease is near all-time high levels based on the number of applicants we’ve processed over the last few months,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president of Swapalease.com. “With prices still extremely high on new vehicle offerings, and more consumers realizing lease transfer as an affordable way to customize your lease term, we expect our applicant level to remain healthy in the foreseeable future.”