Singapore’s first October certificate of entitlement bidding round closes at 4pm on Wednesday, setting the car ownership tax that will appear on dealer quotes for the next fortnight and directly shaping monthly loan payments for buyers in every category.
Quotas on the table today
The Land Transport Authority’s open-bidding page lists available supply for Categories A through E, including unallocated certificates rolled forward from September’s first exercise. Category A, for smaller cars, has more than 1,200 certificates in the pool when quota and carry-forwards are combined; Category B for larger cars is above 900; commercial Category C, motorcycles in Category D and the open Category E each have their own tallies updated as bids arrive.
Bidding opened at noon on Monday 5 October and runs until Wednesday afternoon under the usual twice-monthly calendar. The next exercise begins on 19 October, so buyers who miss today’s window wait another two weeks for fresh premiums.
What last month’s close implies
At the 23 September close, Category A finished at S$131,890, down slightly from a record high in the prior round. Category B settled at S$133,000; commercial vehicles at S$92,144; motorcycles at S$12,201; and the open category at S$137,000. Those figures are the starting psychology for dealers quoting packages this week — even though today’s exercise can diverge if bid volumes spike.
The August–October quota totals 19,085 certificates for the quarter, a marginal increase from the previous three months. More supply on paper does not always mean cheaper premiums if dealer stock is thin or buyers rush in after a dip.
Household money, not just car culture
For many families, COE is bundled into a seven-year loan with down payment, insurance and road tax. A S$2,000 swing in premium changes monthly instalments by tens of dollars — real cash flow next to CPF housing payments and school fees. Buyers comparing parallel imports or used cars still face the same certificate line item; only Category D motorcycle riders see a separate, far smaller premium band.
Electric vehicle rebates and the VES band can shift the front-end price, but the certificate remains the largest lump for most new petrol and hybrid purchases. Wednesday’s close therefore matters to households who timed orders to this exercise rather than the September second round.
How to read today’s outcome
LTA publishes results after processing bids; dealers typically update price lists the same evening. If premiums rise while quotas stay steady, the story is demand — fleet replacements, pent-up orders or sentiment from Wall Street gains feeding local confidence. If premiums fall, buyers who deferred from September may have waited correctly.
There is no public live ticker of final prices during the session; only quota and bid counts update. Households should treat dealer “guaranteed premium” packages as financing products and compare the certificate component against their own bid strategy on OneMotoring.
Wednesday’s exercise is the first of two in October. Anyone planning a year-end delivery should map both closes against loan approval timelines and the 19–21 October window before committing to a showroom deposit.