In the latest bidding exercise on 23 February, COEs for all categories posted an increase, with an average of 16 per cent rise each for the main Cat A and Cat B categories.

This comes after two consecutive declines in COE prices for the previous two tenders.

I suppose the rise could be partly attributed to a lull in sentiments from the previous exercises, as buyers moved in upon seeing the prices falling.

Or it could be a number of other factors, as several new car sales representatives have been quoted as saying.

Among them include a fall in demand during the recent Chinese New Year festive period, a rebound after the further reduction in quota that was enforced in early February, or even a reaction to the recent Budget announcement where the Government handed out "goodies" to the people as a reward for the outstanding financial year just past.

Whatever it is, with the reduced quota in COEs now, it is getting harder to predict the movements of COE prices in the months ahead.

I think the managing director of Audi Singapore. Reinhold Carl, summed it up best when he said, "When premiums fall, buyers will come in, which will cause premiums to rise. And then, people will stop buying, causing premiums to fall."

The only thing that buyers can be sure of, however, is that the days of cheap COEs are definitely over.