COE bidding exercises to resume on July 6
Certificate of entitlement (COE) bidding exercises will resume, with the first exercise starting on July 6.
The COE quota for the bidding exercises next month will be 8,737.
The COE quota from the suspension of bidding will be gradually returned to the market, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement yesterday.
Motor vehicle dealerships and showrooms will be reopening today, the first day of phase two of Singapore's reopening in the post-circuit breaker period.
Motor dealers will resume operations, including test drives by vehicle buyers.
Dealers and vehicle buyers will have two weeks to plan and confirm vehicle purchases.
Thereafter, COE bidding exercises will resume according to the schedule before the circuit breaker, opening on the first and third Mondays of each month.
The accumulated COE quota of 19,490 from the suspended bidding exercises from April to this month due to the circuit breaker will be returned to the market over the next 12 months.
Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in a Facebook post yesterday: "We will re-inject the COEs gently so there is a soft landing."
One-third of the accumulated quota - 6,494 COEs - will be returned from next month to September.
The remaining two-thirds of the accumulated quota - 12,996 COEs - will be returned from this October to June next year.
This will allow LTA to ensure sufficient supply of COEs to meet orders that built up when bidding was suspended, as well as smooth COE supply to ensure long-term market stability.
Industry players are divided over how COE prices might move once bidding resumes.
Mr Raymond Tang, honorary secretary of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association, said prices are likely to go up due to the backlog of COEs since bidding was suspended in April. The last bidding exercise was on March 18.
However, Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, said downward pressure of COE prices by at least 10 per cent is expected.
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