COE prices end higher in latest tender as supply shrinks
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The COE premium for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished at $53,709, up from $52,709 two weeks ago.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
SINGAPORE - Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices ended higher across the board in the latest tender on Wednesday as a double-digit drop in supply of certificates kicked in.
The COE premium for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished at $53,709 or 1.9 per cent higher than two weeks ago. The COE price for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp closed 3.2 per cent higher at $82,801.
The price of the open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles but which ends up almost entirely for bigger cars, ended 3.5 per cent higher at $88,000.
All three categories remain at their highest in at least six years.
The commercial vehicle COE price closed 3.7 per cent higher at $42,001. The motorcycle COE premium posted the smallest rise, ending 0.8 per cent higher at $9,381.
Bidding remained subdued till 3.30pm, with the number of bids well below the number of available COEs. Then at around 3.30pm, bidding for the open COE breached $70,000.
From then, bids continued to rise quickly, except for motorcycles. Motorbike bids remained at $1 right up to the last four minutes before closing. The bids then started to come in at just above $6,000, moving past $9,000 in the closing seconds of the tender, which ended at 4pm.
Market watchers said the increases were significantly smaller than those in the previous tender, a sign that bidders tend to react more aggressively to an imminent supply shrinkage rather than when the contraction actually takes place.
Observers also said the latest results may point to a further weakening of the car market, including demand for Tesla cars - which have been fuelling price spikes in recent tenders.
"If Tesla bookings were still strong, premiums would easily have risen by 15 per cent," one said. "They rose only around 3 per cent, which could indicate they (Tesla) have fulfilled the bulk of their bookings."
With current COE premiums, several mass market cars in Category B (above 1,600cc or 130bhp) are already priced at $200,000 or more; and executive models such as the BMW 5-series and Mercedes-Benz E-class are over $300,000.
