Off-Lease Volume, Monthly Lease Payments Both Trending Higher

With leasing volume rising, prices on those monthly lease contracts are moving upward, too, potentially boosting the equity left in those vehicles.

Swapalease.com reported that average lease prices increased 2.1 percent year-over-year based on listings entering the market during August. The site found that prices on leases averaged $590.38, up from $578.06 at the end of August of last year.

The Swapalease.com marketplace records actual monthly payments based on contracts from lessees who’ve listed their vehicles for transfer each month.

The least expensive lease listed during August was a 2012 Smart Fortwo at $130 monthly. A Chevy Volt was registered second with a monthly payment of $148.29.

Among today’s most popular leased vehicles, analysts found the average price of a Ford Focus dropped 35.5 percent from year-ago levels with an average monthly list price of $253.88 at the end of August, down from $393.57 a year earlier.

The Honda Accord declined 24.1 percent from year-ago levels with an average monthly list price of $270.14 at the end of August, down from $359.24 same time last year.

But several popular vehicles have experienced price increases during the last 12 months, according to Swapalease.

The Toyota Camry is currently averaging $343.08 according to vehicles listed in August compared with $281.18 a year earlier, a 22.0-percent increase.

The Audi A4 is currently averaging $515.90 during August compared with $463.57 during August of last year, up 11.3 percent.

“It’s interesting to watch the monthly list prices evolve for the Accord and Camry, two vehicles that compete heavily against one another,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president of Swapalease.com.

“There are a number of factors that go into price changes for these and other vehicles, particularly the type of incentives offered by a specific brand at lease inception,” Hall continued.

While prices appear to be marching higher, ADESA’s Tom Kontos shared in the latest Pulse report how much volume has grown and where it could be headed going forward.

Kontos indicated lease origination volume has increased by more than 67 percent since bottoming in 2009, and now lease penetration is at pre-recession levels.

Kontos pegged the percentage of leases as a part of new-vehicle sales coming in at 28.4 percent in July, a level among the highest readings contained within his data set going back to the beginning of 2006.

Again looking back that far, Kontos mentioned the year-over-year gains for leasing volume. With the exception of 2008 and 2009 when the lowest points of the last recession hit and leasing tailed off significantly, Kontos said leasing volume has increased anywhere from 5.6 percent to 27.3 percent, the higher figure being the jump recorded in 2010 that marked leasing’s return in earnest.

“Off-lease volume is expected to grow steadily beginning in 2013,” Kontos said in the report.

It’s all good news for dealers looking for certified pre-owned inventory: Volume growing and the contractual amount lessees are paying on the march higher, too.

Here are average monthly list prices on popular vehicle at the end of August according to Swapalease.com: 

Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.