SINGAPORE - Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices on Wednesday (May 19) ended lower for all except motorcycles as new pandemic curbs kept buyers away from showrooms, but set the stage for more delivery services.
The COE premium for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp tumbled the most. It finished 12.9 per cent lower at $41,801 – a three-month low. For cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp, it closed 3.2 per cent lower at $58,089.
The Open COE, which can be used for all vehicles except motorcycles, but which ends up mostly for bigger cars, ended at 1.6 per cent lower at $62,000.
For commercial vehicles, the COE price was 3 per cent lower at $41,701. The motorcycle premium however, shot up by 8.6 per cent to hit an all-time high of $8,701.
Observers said some motorbike dealers may be stockpiling COEs in anticipation of a demand spike for delivery services if the country goes into another lockdown, and COE bidding is suspended.
Unlike other categories, speculators in motorbike COEs face a lower risk because the deposit is low for these. If they are wrong, they just let the COEs lapse and forfeit the deposit. But if demand rises, they stand to gain a windfall.
There have been repeated calls to fix this anomaly between the motorbike COE deposit and the car COE deposit, but the authorities said they found no evidence of manipulation.
Unlike most other categories, the supply of motorcycle COEs is actually bigger for the current May-July period. Hence the premium is less likely to rise than others.
Latest COE results:
| Category | Current COE premium ($) | Previous COE premium ($) |
| A - Car (1,600cc & below) | 41,801 | 48,002 |
| B - Car (above 1,600cc) | 58,089 | 60,001 |
| C - Goods vehicle & bus | 41,701 | 43,001 |
| D - Motorcycle | 8,701 | 8,011 |
| E - Open | 62,000 | 63,002 |
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