Certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums ended mostly higher in the latest tender yesterday, the last one before the next three-month quota starts in November.

The COE price for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished at $37,334, 2.2 per cent higher than the previous premium two weeks ago. The premium for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp closed 0.7 per cent higher at $40,990.

The price for the Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but ends up predominantly for bigger cars, ended 1 per cent lower at $39,889.

The premium for the commercial vehicle COE, which has been trending at its highest in over two years, rose by another 2.1 per cent to reach $33,778. The motorcycle premium was 2 per cent lower at $7,300.

Industry watchers reckon the rise in the COE price for cars up to 1,600cc can be attributed to a smaller supply of certificates in the new quota starting next month.

However, the supply of COEs for the other two categories used for cars will be larger, which may explain the dip in the premium for the Open category.

Singapore Vehicle Traders Association president Eddie Loo said the results were within expectations, but "we thought Category B (cars above 1,600cc) would fall" because of the bigger quota next month.

He said the fact that the Open category price fell showed "the speculative component was absent". Motor dealers often secure Open COEs in anticipation of higher premiums down the road.

In the case of Category A (cars up to 1,600cc), Mr Loo said prevailing premiums "do not really reflect sentiment" of the masses. "A lot of luxury cars are in this category, which is supposed to cater to economy car buyers," he said, adding that sellers of economy cars cannot compete with those selling luxury cars, which usually have far fatter profit margins.

Looking ahead, he said bidding should heat up as competition increases with the traditional year-end rush to meet sales targets.