wapalease.com, the nation’s largest online car lease marketplace, today released its quarterly lease trends report for the third quarter, 2017. The report shows that the impact from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma had a noticeable effect on lease shopping during the third quarter. Search traffic for today’s auto brands was up an average of 20.1% compared to the second quarter. Click here for the report.

Among domestic brands, Ram saw the largest jump in search traffic (+33%), followed by Toyota (+17%), Subaru (+15%), and Acura (+14%). Chevy, Buick and Hyundai saw the smallest growth in search traffic, each gaining just 1% on the quarter. Volkswagen jumped 12% during the quarter, the European brand with the largest gains for the quarter, followed by Mercedes-Benz at 7%.

BMW retains the top spot as the brand with the largest share of overall traffic on Swapalease.com at 12%, and Mercedes-Benz gained slightly recording 8% of total search traffic during the quarter, up from 7% during the second quarter. Even though Ram saw the largest jump in search traffic during the quarter, it still represents less than 1% of overall traffic in the marketplace.

The average monthly payment on a lease was registered at $484.79, a slight increase from the second quarter ($474.39). Mercedes-Benz is currently the most expensive brand to lease with an average monthly payment of $789. Conversely, Nissan is the most inexpensive brand to lease with an average monthly payment of $328.

The report also shows that SUV leases, as well as Crossovers and Mid-size cars saw declines in listings for the marketplace, while Full-size cars and Trucks both saw gains in listings.

“Leasing activity in the third quarter remains at extreme healthy levels according to the data in our report,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President at Swapalease.com. “We are seeing an increase in pricing activity and monthly payments, which could be attributed to more confidence in the economy, as well as the desire for more consumers to drive a vehicle at a higher price point.”

Click here to access the Q3 lease report.

About Swapalease.com:  

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Swapalease.com is the world’s largest automotive lease marketplace and the pioneer in facilitating lease transfers online. More specifically Swapalease.com matches individuals who want to get out of their lease with people who are looking for short-term lease agreements. Prospective buyers can search the listings for the exact vehicle they want, and then register for a nominal fee, allowing them to use Swapalease.com’s safe online system to contact the prospective seller and close the deal. For more information about Swapalease.com or how to exit your lease early, call 866-SWAPNOW or visit www.swapalease.com.