Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices finished mixed in the second round of bidding for this month, which closed on Thursday (Oct 19) at 4pm.
Premiums for the open category – available for any vehicle type except motorcycles but is used mostly for bigger cars – saw the biggest jump.
Prices for the category went up $3000, from $49,000 to $52,000, an increase of 6.1 percent.
COE prices for commercial vehicles also showed a similar increase, hitting their highest figures in more than two years (May 2015).
Prices for the category jumped up $2988, from $48,902 to $51,890.
“The increase in premiums for commercial vehicles is driven by anticipation of significantly smaller supply for the November-to-January quota,” said Mr Ron Lim, general manager of Nissan agent Tan Chong Motors.
He added the supply for these vehicles is likely to be about 40 to 50 percent smaller because of fewer deregistrations.
Yong Lee Seng Motor managing director Raymond Tang said the rush for commercial vehicles – which run mostly on diesel – comes ahead of the introduction of Euro 6 emission standards for diesel vehicles in January next year (2018).
This demand could also have spilled over in to the open category, which can also be used for these vehicles, he noted.
The prices for cars above 1600cc or 130bhp inched up slightly, closing at $49,996, up from $48,109 two weeks ago (Oct 4).
The COE premiums for cars up to 1600cc and 130bhp went down slightly, from $41,761 to $41,617.
Mr Lim said COE prices for the category only saw a slight drop as buyers are anticipating the next tender in three weeks, as well as retail bazaar Cars@Expo, organised by Singapore Press Holdings, on Oct 28 and 29.
Motorcycle premiums also showed a slight decrease, down from $5010 to $4903, a two-year low (Jan 2015).
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