Equipment finance demand hits record high in January
Total new business volume hit $11.6B
New equipment finance demand reached a record high in January as new business volumes posted the strongest monthly dollar total in the 20-year history of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s CapEx Finance Index.
Total new business volume hit $11.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to today’s Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) release. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, volume increased 30.1% year over year and 7.8% from December, marking the largest one-month dollar gain on record.
Growth came largely from OEM financing, according to the release. Small-ticket volume, a key indicator of equipment demand, rose 5.5% from December to $5.3 billion.
Captive finance companies led monthly gains, with new deals rising 14.9%, according to the release. Activity at banks declined 11.7% from the prior month, while independent finance companies saw volumes fall 2.5%.
Credit conditions mixed
Meanwhile, credit conditions in the equipment finance sector are mixed, as the overall credit approval rate slipped 1.3 percentage points to 76.8%, according to the release.
Small-ticket approval rate edged down to 80.9%, close to its 2025 average, according to the release. Bank and independent approval rates fell, while captives improved.
The delinquency rate ticked up to 2.1%, within its recent two-year range, according to the release. The overall loss rate declined 0.1 percentage point to 0.46%, offsetting a late-2025 increase.
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