Bumper crop of COEs for commercial vehicles over the next three months
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — The next three months will continue to see a bumper crop of Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) entering the market, with a significant increase in COEs for the commercial vehicles category.
A total of 21,653 Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) will be available from next month to January — or 7,217 COEs a month — down 0.87 per cent from the quota for August to October, the Land Transport Authority said today (Oct 15).
The slight dip in supply was mainly led by the drop in number of COEs for cars and motorcycles.
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Category A, which is for cars of up to 1600cc and 97kW, will see a monthly quota of 3,313 COEs, down 1.78 per cent from the 3,373 currently. Category B for bigger cars above 1600cc or 97kW will have 2,049 COEs monthly, down 2.98 per cent from this quarter.
There will be fewer motorcycle COEs, with 654 COEs allocated monthly from November to January, down 7.88 per cent from now.
The Open Category, which can be used for any vehicle type but is usually used for big cars, will have 720 COEs monthly, two fewer than currently.
Only the commercial vehicles category bucked the trend with a 32 per cent increase from the 364 available now monthly to 481 in the next three months.
The number of COEs available depends on the number of vehicles de-registered, and the large number of COEs available of late is due to the high numbers of older vehicles being deregistered. Figures provided by LTA earlier this year showed that of the 915,524 vehicles on the road as of Dec 31, nearly 27 per cent or 246,719 vehicles are between eight to just under 10 years old.
About 71,432 vehicles have been deregistered from January to September this year, compared to 41,087 in the same period last year.
Motor traders TODAY spoke to said COE premiums should remain fairly stable at current levels with no major fluctuations.
Mr Ricky Tay, director of RTMT Motor, said the weaker economic outlook might deter buyers from entering the market and premiums could differ by about only 5 per cent from current levels.
Mr Eddie Loo, managing director of car dealer CarTimes Automobile, noted there is still healthy demand for cars, so premiums would likely remain at current levels, or even go up.
Mr Raymond Tang, first vice-president of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association, also expected prices to remain stable, but said premiums may creep up if people continue to renew their COEs.
“People may think (current) COE prices are high, so why not pay a five-year COE and wait one or two years to (monitor the prices). But by doing so, you get fewer cars scrapped … and fewer COEs being allocated, which could push prices up,” he said.
