Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices across all five categories fell at the close of the latest bidding exercise yesterday.

For smaller cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp, COE premiums finished at $30,209, down about 5.6 per cent from $31,997.

Mr Nicholas Wong, general manager of Honda agent Kah Motor, said the drop in this category was due to the Hungry Ghost Festival.

He said: "This month is traditionally a low buying period. Furthermore, the backlog of these vehicles has been clearing. Together with weaker demand, this has caused the number of bids to come down, leading to a drop in premium prices."

For larger cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp, prices fell to $32,001 from the previous bidding exercise's premium of $32,429.

In the open category, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but is mostly used for bigger cars, COE premiums fell about 1.6 per cent, from $32,311 to $31,801.

The premium for the motorcycle category fell too. Compared with the previous bidding exercise's price of $4,889, COE premiums for this category closed at $4,390, down by around 10.2 per cent.

Goods vehicles and buses also saw COE prices go down by 9.7 per cent from $29,902 to $27,001.