ATLANTA—Leasing—which reached a record high last year, accounting for nearly 33% of all new car sales—is declining in 2018.
Equifax reports that 849,600 auto leases, totaling $13.96 billion, have been originated year-to-date. This is a 12.7% decrease in accounts and a 13.3% decrease in balances, from this time last year, the company said.
Auto leases accounted for 12.7% of all auto accounts originated through March, and 9.7% of balances.
Equifax reported that 87,140 auto leases have been originated year to date to consumers with a VantageScore 3.0 credit score below 620.
“These are generally considered subprime accounts. This is a 10.2% decrease from March 2017. These newly-issued leases have a corresponding total balance of $1.50 billion, a 9.9% decrease year-over-year,” the company said.
Through March, 10.3% of auto leases were issued to consumers with a subprime credit score. In 2017 through March the share was 10.0%.
The average origination balance for all auto leases issued in March 2018 was $16,586.
“This is a 0.14% increase over March 2017. The average subprime lease amount was $17,394, a 1.15% increase over a year ago,” the company said.
"We see a slight pullback in lease activity from a year ago, but the average origination balance on leases has remained relatively unchanged from a year ago,” Gunnar Blix, Deputy Chief Economist for Equifax.