Category A COE prices for cars under 1600cc broke through the $16,000 barrier for the first time since September 2005 at $16,159, an increase of 10.7% over April's pricing.

COE prices for big cars (1600cc and above) climbed 11.8% to reach $17,879, the highest Category B COE price since March 2005.

Open Category (Category E) COEs which can be used for any vehicle, saw a 10.9% increase to settle at $17,856, which is also a 2-year high.

Goods vehicles COEs (Category C) will now cost $8,300, registering the largest jump of $3,011, proving that more Euro IV-compliant goods vehicles have reached our shores to meet the range of demands from local buyers.

Motorcycle COE (Category C) prices have reached at a six-year peak at $1,345, the highest since January 2001 when they were priced at $1,454.

Instead of the usual two week period between COE biddings, the latest bidding exercise came after three weeks, which resulted in additional demand for COEs as sales agents collected more orders in the lead up to the latest bidding exercise.

But sales over the past weeks proved to be better for some, and worse for others.

A check with a sales agents from different Japanese marques revealed that some showrooms experienced better than usual demand with newly-released models chalking up orders, while other dealers saw little buying activity.

The one thing that these agents agreed on though, is that with COE premiums on the rise, car sticker prices are likely to follow suit.