Car COEs down; motorbike COE hits all-time high

[SINGAPORE] Certificates of entitlement (COE) 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 for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp finished at S$41,801, down from S$48,002. For cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp it closed at S$58,089, down from S$60,001. The Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type except motorcycles, but which ends up mostly for bigger cars, ended at S$62,000, down from S$63,002.

For commercial vehicles, the COE finished at S$41,701, down from S$43,001. The motorcycle premium, however, shot up from S$8,011 to hit an all-time high of S$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.

THE STRAITS TIMES

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