At the end of the second COE bidding for August, COE premiums ended higher for all categories except the commercial vehicle COE, which ended at $52,390, down $1,619 or 2.9 percent.

COE premiums for Cat A, for cars up to 1,600cc in displacement and no more than 130bhp, ended at $65,710 - a difference of $1,110 or 1.7 percent.

Cat B COE premiums, for larger cars with more than 130bhp or an engine displacement larger than 1,600cc, ended 5.9 percent higher - amounting to $4,301 - at $72,990.

The Open Category or Cat E premiums ended at $72,810, with a hike of $3,809 from the previous tender - equivalent to 5.2 percent.

New car models, such as the Honda Jazz and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class continue to stream in and this could be one of the reasons COE premiums are rising.

The increase in premiums can also be attributed to the increase of new COE quotas, which were announced by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) recently.

With the number of deregistered cars last month being the highest in recent years, COE quotas are expected to increase in the next few months. However, industry watchers believe COE premiums will fall below the $60,000 mark next year.