SINGAPORE — Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums for three out of six categories reached new records, with Categories B and E crossing the S$140,000 mark in the latest bidding exercise which closed on Wednesday (20 September).

Category A, which includes cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp or electric vehicles (EV) up to 110kW, saw premiums hit a new high of S$105,000 from a price of S$101,000 set in the last tender. Its previous high was S$103,721 set in April 2023.

In Category B – or cars above 1600cc and 130bhp as well as electric vehicles (EVs) higher than 110kW – prices rose to a record S$140,889, surpassing its previous high of S$134,889 that was reached in the last bidding exercise. This marks the fourth consecutive increase for this category.

For Category E – which can be used for all vehicle types except for motorcycles – premiums rose to a record S$144,640 from S$137,000 in the last bidding exercise, which was the previous record high. This is the fifth consecutive increase for this category.

For the commercial vehicles category or Category C, which includes buses and goods vehicles, COE premiums closed higher at S$83,801 from S$82,889 in the last tender.

COE premiums for motorcycles or Category D closed at S$10,700, down from S$10,901 which was set in the previous tender.

A total of 2,673 bids were received, with a quota of 1,916 COEs available for bidding. This is the fourth bidding exercise for the quota period of August to October 2023.

A summary of the latest bidding results is as follows:

What is COE?

The COE gives the owner the right to register and use a vehicle in Singapore for 10 years. It can be obtained through an online open auction conducted twice a month. Bidding exercises usually start at 12pm on the first and third Monday of the month, and last for three working days. Each bidding will end at 4pm on Wednesday, if there is no public holiday in between.

The vehicle quota in each category will be announced before the start of each bidding exercise.

After 10 years, when the COE expires, an owner can choose to de-register the vehicle or renew the COE.

How is the COE quota counted?

Since 1 February 2023, the number of COEs available for bidding in the corresponding vehicle category in each quarter is the rolling average of the number of vehicles deregistered over the previous four quarters.

Will the COE price drop?

COE prices, of course, can drop – it is dependent on supply and demand.

Since 2017, the Land and Transport Authority has been freezing vehicle population growth and in October 2021 the authority announced that the 0 per cent growth rate will be maintained until 31 January 2025.

Singapore is one of the costliest places in the world to buy a car – in fact, in 2022, the Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2022, released by Swiss private bank Julius Baer, found Singapore cars were the most expensive globally.

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