01 · The questionYield is a division, not a forecast
Start from the number you control, not the number you hope for.
Rental yield is decided at purchase. The rent only confirms it.
Rental yield discussions usually start with rent — what the market is getting, what the neighbour achieved, what the agent quotes. That is the volatile half.
The stable half is what you pay. Purchase price is fixed on the day you sign and never changes again. So the useful question is inverted: given what units actually cost right now, what rent do you need to hit a given yield? If that rent is achievable, the deal works. If it is not, no forecast rescues it.
Fix the price, solve for the rent. It is the only version of this calculation you can check.
02 · The claimThe rent your price demands
Three yields, one median unit.
Those are monthly rents against a median 700–900 sqft resale at S$1,450,000. The spread between a 3% and a 4% outcome is S$1,250 a month — roughly S$15,000 a year, on the same asset.
That is the entire investment case in one line. Everything else is detail.
On a S$1,450,000 unit, one percentage point of yield is S$1,250 a month of rent.
03 · MethodHow we calculated it
What is measured, and what is deliberately left to you.
- Price side: median transacted price by size band and segment, URA caveats, 2021-07 to 2026-07, private non-landed resale, Executive Condominiums excluded.
- Required rent = price × target yield ÷ 12, rounded to the nearest S$50.
- Gross yield throughout. Maintenance, property tax, agent fees, vacancy and income tax are not deducted — net yield is materially lower.
- We do not publish achieved rents. Rental contracts are a separate dataset; use URA’s rental records or your own quotes for that side.
- Minimum 40 transactions per reported group.
The honest framing: we can tell you exactly what you must charge. Whether the market will pay it is a question for the specific building, and we would rather say so than model it.
04 · Core evidenceWhat each size band needs
Monthly rent required for 3.5% gross, by size band.
Under 700 sqft needs S$2,900. The 900–1,100 band needs S$5,000. The 1,100–1,400 band needs S$6,000 — S$3,100 more per month than the smallest band, for the same yield.
Bigger units need proportionally more rent for the same yield — and rarely command it.
05 · The mechanismWhy small units win on yield
The arithmetic behind the pattern every landlord notices.
A tenant rents a home, not a spreadsheet. Moving from 700 to 1,400 sqft roughly doubles the price you pay, but it does not double what a tenant will pay — the second bedroom adds far less rent than the first, and the study adds less again.
Our own price data shows the effect from the other side: sub-700 sqft units clear at the highest psf of any band. Investors bid them up precisely because the rent-to-price arithmetic works better, and that bidding is itself the reason the psf is high.
Can you check what rent my unit type is achieving nearby? →Small units yield better because rent scales with utility, not with floor area.
06 · Cohort proofSegment by segment
The same 3.5% target across CCR, RCR and OCR.
At the segment medians, CCR needs S$7,850 a month, RCR S$5,250, OCR S$4,350. The absolute gap between CCR and OCR is S$3,500 a month.
Prime rents are higher, but they are not 80% higher than suburban rents in most buildings — which is the mechanical reason prime yields have historically run below suburban ones.
Before committing, get three real quotes for your exact stack and layout. If they sit below the table figure, price the deal at the real yield, not the target.
CCR needs S$7,850 a month for 3.5%; OCR needs S$4,350. Prime yields are lower for a reason that is pure arithmetic.
07 · The counter-caseWhere the maths misleads
The honest correction: gross yield flatters everything.
Gross yield ignores costs, and the costs are not small. Maintenance fees on a mid-sized private unit commonly run S$300–500 a month. Property tax on a tenanted unit is charged at the higher non-owner-occupier rates. Agent commission on a two-year lease is typically half a month’s rent. Rental income is taxable.
Then vacancy. One month empty in twelve removes 8.3% of annual rent — on a S$5,000 target, that alone drags a 3.5% gross yield to roughly 3.2%.
A realistic net yield often lands 0.8–1.2 percentage points below gross. If your case only works at 3.5% gross, it probably does not work.
Net yield typically runs about a point below gross. Build the case on the lower number.
08 · For youWhat it means for you
Four situations, four numbers.
If you are buying to rent out
Get the required-rent figure for your size band first. Then get three real quotes. If the quotes are below the figure, walk or renegotiate — do not adjust the target.
If you already own and are letting
Divide your annual rent by what you paid. That is your actual gross yield. Compare it to the table — it tells you whether the asset or the entry price is the problem.
If you are choosing between sizes
Smaller units yield better and sell to a deeper investor pool. Larger units usually appreciate on a different logic. Pick which one you are buying.
If you are deciding rent-versus-sell
Compare net yield against your mortgage rate. If the mortgage rate is higher, holding is costing you money every month, whatever the capital story.
What rent does your unit need?
Tell us the size band. We will send the required rent at 3%, 3.5% and 4% against real transacted prices, plus what comparable units nearby are actually asking.
- Required rent at three yield targets for your size and district
- Recent transacted prices for the same band nearby
- A gross-to-net worksheet with realistic cost assumptions
One WhatsApp message back — usually same day.
We’ll WhatsApp it shortly — usually within the day.
09 · ReferenceThe full yield table
Every size band at all three targets.
10 · MethodSources, limits and corrections
Data: URA caveat records, 2021-07 to 2026-07, private non-landed, Executive Condominiums excluded. Thresholds: minimum 40 transactions per reported group. Yield basis: gross, before maintenance, property tax, agent fees, vacancy and income tax. Rents: required rents are derived from transacted prices, not from achieved rental contracts. Reproducibility: every figure is produced by a script against the source dataset; corrections are made in place and dated. Not investment advice. Analysis of public records, published to be argued with.
Your yield is set on the day you buy.
Two minutes in the Scenario Planner tests a purchase price against the rent it would actually need.
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