In the first round of bidding for 2007, demand for goods vehicle and bus COEs remained sluggish, with only 338 bids received for 509 COEs that were available. This resulted in a second consecutive month where COEs for this category are priced at the nominal $1 quantum.

Category A COEs, for small cars (1600cc & below) and taxis, breached the $10k mark at $11,704, an increase of 21.85 per cent over last month's $9,605 pricing.

Category B COEs for cars above 1600cc increased marginally by 0.87 per cent, from $12,889 in December, to $13,001.

Those hoping to get COEs for motorcycles might have been disappointed, as there were over 700 bids for only 459 available certificates. Prices for Cat D COEs inched up just $4 (0.3 per cent ) from last month's $1,210 to $1,214.

Meanwhile open category COEs saw the only reduction in price, with COEs now costing $13,301, a drop of 1.47 per cent over the last round's price of $13,499.

According to a spokesperson from Cycle and Carriage, the latest increase in Category A COE prices had been anticipated, mainly because last month's dip to $9,605 was an anomaly compared to the trend over the previous 2 months.

He also remarked that sales had increased by an astounding 30 per cent during the holiday season, fueled by the last round's lower COE prices.

With regards to short-term trends, the spokesman felt that demand might fall slightly with a $2,000 price increase on the cards for their category A vehicles, following the restoration of COE prices to their previous levels.