Cat B COE price rises 3.1% to $113,000; dealers expect demand to remain high
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
At $92,730, the premium for a Category A COE dipped by 0.1 per cent on March 5 from $92,850 recorded at the last exercise.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – The price of a Category B certificate of entitlement (COE) climbed to $113,000 at the latest tender exercise on March 5, as COE prices rose across the board, except for Category A certificates.
A Category B COE was 3.1 per cent higher than the premium recorded at the previous exercise on Feb 19,
At $92,730, the premium for a Category A COE dipped by 0.1 per cent on March 5, from $92,850 recorded at the last exercise two weeks ago.
For Open category (Category E) COEs, the premium was $112,901 – $2,899 higher than before.
Open category certificates can be used to register any vehicle type other than motorcycles, but are almost always used for bigger and more powerful cars.
The commercial vehicle (Category C) COE premium came in at $67,001, 2.8 per cent higher than the $65,189 registered two weeks ago.
At $9,201, the motorcycle (Category D) COE price was 4.7 per cent above the $8,791 recorded previously. A COE is needed to register a vehicle in Singapore. For most vehicle types, the COE is included in the price of the vehicle.
Mr Nicholas Wong, the chief executive of authorised Honda dealer Kah Motor, said the almost stagnant premiums for Category A certificates can be attributed to the previous tender on Feb 19, when premiums for the category rose by 9.2 per cent. Since then, there has been lower footfall in Kah Motor’s showrooms, said Mr Wong.
“With the high prices, we don’t expect the crowd to return soon. Hopefully, COE prices will ease as a result,” he added.
Car dealers also noted that many unfulfilled bids from previous exercises have kept the premiums for certificates high in Categories A and B.
Some 1,141 bids in Category A were unsuccessful in Feb 19’s tender, dropping to 890 on March 5.
Similarly, 394 bids in Category B were not successful in the previous tender, with 459 bids unsuccessful and 16 unused this time around.
Ms Corinne Chua, managing director of Volvo Cars at multi-brand distributor Wearnes Automotive, said that as dealers move to clear the back orders, she expects premiums for Category A and B cars to remain at current levels during the next exercise on March 19.
She noted that premiums may even rise during the following exercise on April 9 due to a three-week gap between it and the March 19 exercise, as longer gaps between tenders lead to pent-up demand for COEs, resulting in an increase in car bookings.
Ms Chua expects Category E premiums to rise in the March 19 exercise, as dealers use the open category to fulfil unsuccessful orders from previous failed Category B bids, on top of orders taken during the three-week gap.
She added that dealers may also leverage the open category in the coming exercise to avoid any anticipated spike in Category B premiums on April 9 following the three-week gap between tenders.
COEs in the Open category can be secured by dealers prior to car sales, and then transferred to customers after an order has been placed.
