Certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums rose in three out of five categories in the latest round of bidding which ended yesterday.
The premiums for small cars, motorcycles and Open category all went up. COE prices for cars up to 1,600cc closed at $25,501, an increase of around 8 per cent from the $23,568 in the previous round.
For the Open category, which applies to any vehicle type except motorcycles but typically ends up being used for bigger cars, COE premiums closed at $31,809 - up from $30,851 in the previous round.
Meanwhile, COE prices for cars above 1,600cc remained exactly the same at $31,001.
Premiums for motorcycles rose more than 11 per cent - from $3,399 to $3,789.
Mr Nicholas Wong, general manager of Honda agent Kah Motor, attributed the climb in the small-car premiums to the recently released figures for deregistration of cars in October and November.
Deregistration refers to vehicles being scrapped and hence taken off the roads permanently.
"Deregistration numbers have gone down, which means that from February onwards, the quota will be reduced. So dealers will make a move now," he said.
Mr Wong added that the COE premiums for this category had dropped in the previous round - from $25,000 to $23,568 - leading to demand climbing during the past week.
As for the Open COE category, he explained that dealers are stocking up in anticipation of the Singapore Motorshow next month, hence driving prices up.
Fabian Koh
