SINGAPORE - Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices ended mostly higher across the board in the latest tender on Wednesday (Nov 18), after a slight dip in the last tender.

The COE price for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished at $37,690, up from $35,990 two weeks ago. The premium for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp closed at $41,101, up from $39,000.

The premium for the Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but ends up predominantly used for bigger cars, also ended higher at $41,503, from $39,500.

The commercial vehicle COE price closed at $30,334, down from $31,502. Motorcycle premiums finished at $7,300, up slightly from $7,251.

The Land Transport Authority announced last month that the quota of COEs for cars (including Open COEs) will increase by 5.8 per cent to 4,865 a month for the November to January period.

Of the lot, 1,925 will be for cars up to 1,600cc (down from 1,967), 2,014 for cars above 1,600cc (up from 1,729), and 926 for the Open category (up from 903).

Commercial vehicle buyers will have 735 COEs a month, up from 674, while motorcyclists will have 1,049 a month, up from 934.

In total, the average monthly quota comes up to 6,649, or 7.1 per cent more than for the previous period.

Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of the diversified Prime group, said the rise in the COE prices for car was mostly a reaction to the announcement by the National Environment Agency and the Land Transport Authority that there will be an increased rebate of $5,000 for cleaner cars from next year.

This applies to cars that are deemed to be in the A1 and A2 band under the Vehicular Emissions Scheme.

Noting that the sales of cars linked to this round of tender will be registered in January next year, Mr Neo said: "A lot of cars imported by parallel importers are in the A2 category, so they will have an advantage in bidding for COE"

"Another reason is that with the year ending, major brands are fighting for sales. There are also a lot of new models coming in, and a lot of promotions."

He said the slight dip in COE for commercial vehicles was expected.

"I think the demand...has peaked so prices are going to come down slowly."

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