Certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums closed lower across the board when the second round of bidding for this month closed.
After a 25 percent increase during the previous round of bidding fuelled by higher quotas, the COE price for commercial vehicles dropped 4.2 percent, from $38,501 to $36,879.
Mr Michael Lim, president of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association (SVTA), said buyers held back due to the spike at the last round of bidding.
The downward trend for cars below 1600cc continued, with the price closing at $42,801, down from $45,201. The premium for cars above 1600cc also continued to drop, going down from $50,110 to $47,501, a 5.2 percent decrease.
Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, said demand for private-hire cars has decreased, ahead of the June 30 deadline to apply for the private-hire car driver’s vocational licence.
“There is an excess of cars compared to drivers,” he said.
After holding steady at $6101 during the last two rounds of bidding, the COE premium for motorcycles also dipped slightly to $6001, a 1.6 percent decrease.
The COE price for the Open category – available for any vehicle type but used mostly for bigger cars – dropped about 5 percent, from $50,526 to $48,001.
Mr Neo, who is also adviser to the Automobile Importer and Exporter Association, said higher United States interest rates could have dampened demand.
“Consumers are observing the interest rates,” he said.
Another factor could be due to more people being out of the country during the June school holidays, said the SVTA’s Mr Lim.
“Normally during the June and December school holidays, you will see the COE prices drop,” he said.
Related story: Private-hire players are driving COE prices higher
Related story: COE premiums mixed after first round of bidding in June 2017
