Wantalease.com reports that several automotive brands significantly raised prices in August on lease deals for mid-size and full-size cars, as well as pickups and SUVs. With rising interest rates on new vehicles and 2019 models hitting dealership lots, the average monthly car payment on a new lease is showing an increase. Among the most notable lease price increases are the Volkswagen Jetta with an increase of 17 percent, followed by the Nissan Pathfinder with an increase of 22.89 percent, the Toyota Avalon with an increase of 48.82 percent, and the Ram 1500 Big Horn with an increase of 54.26 percent.
The Volkswagen Jetta is offered at $248.42 per month, and the Nissan Pathfinder is offered at $382.31 per month. The Toyota Avalon is offered at $332.31 compared to last month where the vehicle was priced at $162.22 per month. The Ram 1500 Big Horn was previously priced at $137.79 per month, and now starts at $253.96 per month.
Over the past two years, interest rates have gone up more than six times, prompting consumers to take action and lock-in lower interest rates while they can.
The Nissan Sentra is priced at the lowest of all vehicles for the month of August at $189, down 8.83 percent from last month at $207.31.
Other vehicles offering lower prices on new lease deals include the Honda Pilot (-13.45 percent) for $411.19 per month, and the Nissan Titan (-6.47 percent) offered at $390.08 per month.
“We believe the increase we’re seeing is due to the steady rise of interest rates over the past year, and these rate hikes are now getting priced into deals,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president of Wantalease.com. “Several OEMs have made it clear they are reducing incentives on lease deals, but it’s quite possible that these rate hikes will also begin to be felt on financed deals as well. This is one major reason why we continue to see an increase in shoppers searching for vehicles on alternate channels such as Swapalease.com, where a person takes over an existing lease contract.”
Wantalease.com is a sister marketplace to Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest online marketplace for leases.