Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices ended mostly higher on the back of buying interest whipped up by the recently concluded Singapore Motorshow.
COE premium for cars of up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished 1 per cent higher at $26,170, while that for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp closed 5.6 per cent up at $33,989.
The price of Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but ends up mostly used for bigger cars, rose 2.4 per cent to $33,689.
Motor traders attributed the price increases mainly to strong sales at the Singapore Motorshow. The annual event, which drew 56,000 visitors (up from 55,000 last year), ended on Jan 13.
Mr Ron Lim, general manager of Nissan agent Tan Chong Motor, said there is now a backlog of orders arising from the motor show. In fact, a number of dealers had raised car prices immediately after the event - a sign that they expected COE prices to rise.
"More Category B cars were sold at the show, so it's not surprising Cat B COE went up more," Mr Lim said.
Other factors contributing to the rise in car COEs include a higher demand for private-hire cars since the arrival of Indonesian ride-hailing firm Gojek, and a possible dip in COE supply from next month.
But Mr Samuel Yong, marketing director for Toyota and Lexus distributor Borneo Motors, said the "motor show effect" was the main reason for the climb.
"Personally, I was a little surprised that prices did not go even higher," he said. "From what we know, a lot of dealers had good orders from the show. We got what we wanted."
Meanwhile, commercial vehicle COE ended 2.9 per cent lower at $26,230.
Motorcycle premium tumbled 20 per cent to close at $2,889.
