CREDIT APPROVALS PLUMMET TO LOWEST LEVELS OF 2016 DESPITE HEALTHY DEMAND FOR LEASING

Cincinnati, OH (August 11, 2016)

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports car lease credit applicants registered a 58.3% approval rate for July, the lowest single-month tally so far in 2016. A year ago the approvals rate reached 84.6% during the same month.

The monthly lease credit approvals rate has reached 70% just once during 2016 (February), and the monthly rate has dropped almost every month since then. In fact, over the last three months, the approvals rate has been just 67.9%

Consumer credit increased recently by the slowest rate in four years. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, “Nonrevolving credit, including student and auto loans, advanced at a 2.07% annual pace in June. That was the weakest increase since balances in the category declined in August 2011. May’s growth rate was 7.3%, a high for the year.”

“Lease rates at the dealership remain at all-time highs, and while overall sales of cars and trucks also remain high, the industry looks to be in a peak period,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President of Swapalease.com. “It will be prudent for the industry to pay close attention to other outside indicators, including credit health and credit availability as we move deeper into the year.”

Swapalease.com matches a person wanting out of their existing vehicle lease contract with a car shopper looking to take over a short-term vehicle lease. The marketplace has several thousands of cars and trucks available for transfer to anywhere in the continental U.S.