Stacked Homes ranked 67 prime district condos by rental yield in an analysis published 25 August 2026. Rental yield is the yearly rent a property earns, shown as a percentage of its price. A higher yield means more rental income for every dollar you spend on the unit. The pattern is clear: one-bedroom units sit at the top of the table, and yield drops sharply once purchase prices climb above S$5 million.
The reason is a gap between how fast prices rise and how fast rents rise. For small units, rents have grown faster than prices, so yield goes up. For the priciest units, prices have grown faster than rents, so each extra dollar spent on the property buys less rental income. Loan quantum, the actual amount a buyer borrows, tracks price closely, since most buyers borrow the same proportion of the purchase price no matter how big the unit is. So a bigger, pricier unit does not just cost more. It is also funded by a much bigger loan.
The bands below are illustrative. They use midpoint prices and rents that match the pattern Stacked describes, not the exact figures from the ranking.
They also apply a stated cost of debt of 2.5% per annum. In 2026, most private home loan packages in Singapore sit below 2.5%, typically somewhere between about 2.0% and 2.5%. This table uses 2.5% because it sits at the top of that range. If the numbers still work at the higher end of what people pay, they work even better for buyers on lower rates.
| Price band (S$) | Typical unit | Monthly rent (S$) | Gross yield (%) | Less 2.5% debt cost (pp) |
|---|
| Under 2m | 1-bedroom | 4,500 | 3.6 | +1.1 |
| 2m to 3m | 2-bedroom | 6,500 | 3.1 | +0.6 |
| 3m to 5m | 3-bedroom | 9,800 | 2.9 | +0.4 |
| Above 5m | 4-bedroom | 13,000 | 2.6 | +0.1 |
Gross yield is the rent divided by the price. It does not take away any costs. The last column shows what is left after taking away the 2.5% debt cost, in percentage points. A positive number means the rent covers the loan's interest, with something left over.
For the cheapest units, that leftover is comfortable: 1.1 percentage points for units under S$2 million. But it shrinks fast as price rises. By the time you reach units priced above S$5 million, only 0.1 percentage points is left. That is a razor-thin cushion.
This table does not include property tax, maintenance, agent's commission, or a vacant month. Add any of those in, and the cushion for the priciest band disappears entirely. For units under S$2 million, there is far more room to absorb these costs before the numbers turn negative.
When you see a rental yield number in a ranking like this, treat it as a gross figure. It only becomes a real measure of income once you subtract your own loan's interest rate, and the extra costs that come with owning the unit.
Sarah Chen
