Those holiday ads for vehicles — especially for luxury models — evidently stimulated activity not only at dealerships, but also at Swapalease.com.

While stores might have moved some extra metal that was a gift, the site's lease-transfer approval rating took a tumble in January.

Swapalease.com reported that vehicle lease credit applicants registered a 57.8-percent approval rate in January, down from 62.0% in December.

While the rate slipped on a sequential basis, January’s reading was higher than a year earlier as the opening month of 2017 produced a 50-percent approval mark.

Site officials explained some of the reason for the lower-than-normal approval rate can be attributed to the higher-than-average number of applicants registered in January. With holiday promotions and strong emphasis on luxury lease offers typically signaling heavy applicant volume in December, the marketplace saw a continuation of high volume applicants opening the New Year in January.

With this higher volume comes a variety of credit histories, including more applicants with less-than-stellar credit approved by the banks, according to Swapalease.com.

During the past three months and dating back to November, the lease approval rate has come in at  62.2 percent. The majority of applicants are interested in taking over leases in the mid- to high-end luxury categories, including higher-end SUVs. These vehicles come with an average monthly payment of $499 or higher.

“We’re continuing to see a healthy consumer appetite in taking over existing leases in the online marketplace, and a large number of these interested parties feel confident in the monthly payments they’re willing to take on,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President of Swapalease.com.

“The banks and lease companies have remained firm in their criteria for approvals, which is why we continue to see a slightly higher number of those still not being approved,” Hall continued.

“Credit profile remains extremely important when applying for a lease across any segment or type,” he went on to say.