Car COEs dip in Jan 1st bidding

SINGAPORE - Certificates of entitlement saw a fall in prices for most categories at the end of the first bidding exercise of the year at 4pm today.

Premiums for Cat A (cars 1,600cc and below and taxis) were on a downward trend, dipping for the fourth bidding exercise in a row.

It closed $46,889, a 6.2 per cent drop compared to the last bidding in December 2011.

Cat B (cars above 1,600cc) COE premiums fell by a similar margin. It dropped six per cent to end at $65,801.


The open category dipped by a slightly bigger margin of 7.5 per cent to close at $65,700.

COEs for commercial vehicles ended lower at $38,699.

However motorcycle premiums rose by 14 per cent to $1,689.

COE PREMIUMS TO RISE

Most distributors are expecting COE premiums to rise in 2012 because of a smaller quota.

Based on the current rate of deregistered vehicles, the number of Cat B COEs is expected to fall from about 353 per tender to 325 between February and July next year, a recent Business Times report said.

The new vehicle population quota that will kick in from August to January 2013, the second half of the quota year, will reduce that number even further: to 250 per bid.

However the situation could be different for small cars. The first half of the quota year -- February to July -- will see an increase from 550 COEs per bid to 600, the report said. The number will then fall from 600 to 455, based on the current scrappage.