COE premiums close mostly lower in latest bidding exercise

SINGAPORE: Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices fell across most categories in the latest bidding exercise on Wednesday (May 21), with commercial vehicles being the sole exception.

For Category A cars, or those 1,600cc and below with horsepower not exceeding 130bhp, premiums closed at S$102,501 (US$79,397), down from S$103,009 in the last exercise.

Premiums for larger and more powerful cars in Category B fell to S$116,988 from S$119,890.

COEs for commercial vehicles, which include goods vehicles and buses, increased to S$63,189 from S$62,590.

Motorcycle premiums dipped by S$2 to S$8,707.

Open category COEs, which can be used for any vehicle type but end up being mainly used for large cars, dropped to S$118,010 from S$118,889.

A total of 4,432 bids were received, with a quota of 3,060 COEs available.

Last month, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that the COE quota for the May to July period will go up by more than 6 per cent compared with the previous quarter.

The total number of COEs will rise to 18,232, up from 17,133 in the last quarter, which already saw an 8 per cent increase.

Compared with the same period year-on-year, there will be an increase of 21 per cent in the total quota.