CINCINNATI -

While Equifax recently highlighted the depth of consumers opting to purchase an off-lease vehicle in greater numbers rather than leasing a new model, Swapalease.com pointed out that interest in taking over a vehicle lease contract is as strong as ever.

To reinforce the assessment, approvals for takeovers on the site jumped by more than 7 percent in February.

Swapalease reported on Wednesday that vehicle lease credit applicants registered a 65.2 percent approval rate in February, representing a rise from the January rate of 57.8 percent.

Site officials said that 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 percent of lease applicants also were approved.

The company explained that 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.

During the last three months and dating back to December, site officials indicated the lease approval rate came in at 62.1 percent. 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 percent.

Swapalease executive vice president Scot Hall theorized that one area of consideration could be that February saw a slightly higher-than-average number of vehicle shoppers applying for lease contracts on vehicles with payments under $499 per month.

“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,” Hall said in a news release. 

“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,” Hall said.