The yield map is upside down. Cheap districts pay. Prime doesn't.
Ask a new investor where rents are strong and they'll say Orchard. The data says Orchard is where yields go to die — 2.9% — while Woodlands and the CBD fringe clear 4%. The map, the reason, and which side of it your money belongs on.
- Median gross yields by district run 2.45% (Sentosa's D06-adjacent core) to 4.26% (D02, Tanjong Pagar).
- The top of the map: D02 4.26 · D25 4.01 · D08 4.00 · D14 3.92 — fringe and heartland, not prime.
- The bottom: D10 2.62 · D20 2.76 · D21 2.77 · D09 2.91 — the prestige districts.
- The rule that falls out: rents follow people, prices follow prestige. The gap between those two is your yield.
Median gross yield per district: annualised rental contracts ÷ transacted values, matched at project level, URA data to 15 Jul 2026.
The full map
Income districts on top. Prestige at the bottom. That's not a typo.
| District | Median gross yield | Why |
|---|---|---|
| D02 Tanjong Pagar / CBD | 4.26% | Prices fell, rents didn't — see the paradox |
| D25 Woodlands | 4.01% | RTS corridor + int'l school tenants |
| D08 Little India / Farrer Pk | 4.00% | Medical cluster + city-fringe rents |
| D14 Geylang / Eunos | 3.92% | The address discount pays you monthly |
| D07 Bugis / Beach Rd | 3.71% | Compact CBD-fringe stock |
| D22 Jurong | 3.65% | Industrial + business-park tenancies |
| D27 Yishun / Sembawang | 3.56% | North value, real tenant depth |
| D04 Harbourfront | 3.55% | High rents rescue weak capital story |
| D18 Tampines / Pasir Ris | 3.53% | Heartland workhorse |
| D05 Clementi / West Coast | 3.51% | Universities + one-north |
| … | … | Mid-table: D12 3.35 · D19 3.31 · D23 3.28 · D15 3.06 |
| D09 Orchard | 2.91% | Prestige premium, tenant ceiling |
| D26 Upp Thomson | 2.83% | Low-density, few rentals |
| D11 Newton / Novena | 2.81% | Prime pricing, ordinary rents |
| D21 Upper Bt Timah | 2.77% | Owner-occupier land |
| D20 Bishan / AMK | 2.76% | School premium in price, not rent |
| D10 Holland / Bt Timah | 2.62% | The most expensive yield desert |
Gross, before maintenance/tax/vacancy. Net figures typically run 0.8–1.2 points lower.
The paradox at both ends
D02 yields most because it appreciated least. D10 charges most and pays least.
Yield is a fraction, and Singapore forgets the denominator. D02 tops the map not because CBD rents boomed but because CBD prices deflated while rents held — our exits report card shows D02 sellers were profitable only 65% of the time. High yield there is the market's compensation for weak capital growth. Mirror-image: D10's 2.62% exists because prices carry a prestige premium tenants refuse to pay. A tenant rents the unit; a buyer buys the address. The gap between what those two people will pay is the whole map.
The genuinely rare squares are the double-positives — districts where yield AND exit records both rank top-ten: D25, D27, D18, D22, D05. Solid income (3.5–4.0%) sitting on 89–95% profitable exit histories. Nothing glamorous ever gets written about Woodlands, which is precisely why its numbers look like this.
Choosing your side
Income and growth have divorced. Pick deliberately.
If the money must pay you monthly — retirement income, mortgage offset — shop the top: D25/D08/D14/D22, plus D02 only if you accept its capital-flatness as the deal. Run net numbers (deduct ~1 point) and stress a vacancy month.
If the money is planted for a decade — growth first — the mid-table conveyor districts (D19, D18, D23, D27) offer 3.3–3.6% while you wait on the strongest exit records in the country. That combination, not Orchard, is historically Singapore's best total-return seat.
If you're set on prime — buy it knowing the rent won't carry it. Prime works when bought in downcycles and sold in upcycles; the yield map is simply the carrying cost of waiting. 2.6% gross means the property must appreciate ~2% a year just to match the boring districts' income head start.
Rents follow people. Prices follow prestige. Invest in the gap.
- Income buyers: D25 · D08 · D14 · D22 — and D02 with eyes open about why it pays.
- Total-return buyers: the conveyor belt — D19 · D18 · D27 — 3.3–3.6% yield on 94–95% exit records.
- Prime buyers: the 2.6% yield is your countdown timer — the appreciation has to show up, and soon.
Which square of the map fits your money?
Tell me the job the money has — monthly income, decade growth, or parking wealth — and I'll shortlist the three districts and five projects that actually do that job, with net numbers.
The 4% club: 99 projects where rental yields are actually real
Averages say two-something. The data says 99 projects clear 4% — and every high-yield cluster has a catch.
The 2.3× rule: developers price your condo years before it exists
44 launches, one formula — and what it already implies for Hougang, Bedok and Lentor.
Methodology & honesty notes. District medians computed from matched rental-contract and sale-caveat data per project (URA, to 15 Jul 2026), minimum sample floors per district; thin districts (D06 n=1, D26 n=10) are indicative. Gross yields exclude maintenance, property tax, agent fees and vacancy — net typically runs 0.8–1.2 points lower, more for small units. Cross-references: exit records from POV's matched-pair model (see "Who actually loses money"). POV Realty and Farhan Adenan are not the marketing agents for any project or listing referenced, and nothing here is financial advice — it's a starting point for your own due diligence, which is exactly how we'd use it.
Farhan Adenan · CEA Registration R068636D · Senior Associate Division Director, Huttons Asia Pte Ltd (Estate Agent Licence L3008899K).