Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices ended mostly flat yesterday, with marginal increases and dips in the various categories.

The premium for bigger cars fell slightly - by over 2 per cent - from $47,604 to $46,502 when the second round of bidding in March closed yesterday.

Likewise, the price of open category COE, which can be used for any vehicle type but ends up mostly for bigger cars, also fell - to $46,667 from $48,002.

The biggest drop was in the COE premium for commercial vehicles, which fell 5 per cent to $46,502. During the first round of bidding this month, that premium was $48,890 - a seven-month high.

COE prices for smaller cars and motorcycles crept up slightly.

Premiums for Category A COEs - for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp - went up from $45,000 to $45,504.

Motorcycle premiums rose slightly from $6,503 to $6,589.

Despite the changes being only marginal, dealers said this did not mean demand was easing off.

Mr Nicholas Wong, general manager of Honda authorised agent Kah Motor, pointed out that there were 3,836 bids yesterday for Category A COEs, higher than the 3,518 in the previous round.

Mr Wong said in the short term - until the next quota period begins in May - prices across all categories would likely stay within this region.

"Of course, throughout this year, the prices will be trending downwards. The question is when it will start moving down and by how much," he said.