By Winfred Quek · CEA R073319H · Published 29 July 2026
Facts verified: 29 July 2026 · Sources linked below
Most rental yield content on Singapore property sites is a single anecdote dressed up as a market view: one agent's one listing, one town, one conclusion. It is rarely the full picture. This is the full picture. We pulled every HDB town with sufficient transaction volume, computed gross rental yield from the trailing twelve months of official resale and rental data, and ranked all 25 of them, high to low. No forecasts, no cherry picking, just the arithmetic.
The full ranking, all 25 towns
| Rank | Town | Median resale | Median rent/mth | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jurong East | S$520,000 | S$3,200 | 7.38% |
| 2 | Jurong West | S$565,000 | S$3,450 | 7.33% |
| 3 | Marine Parade | S$565,000 | S$3,200 | 6.80% |
| 4 | Ang Mo Kio | S$516,900 | S$2,900 | 6.73% |
| 5 | Yishun | S$540,000 | S$3,000 | 6.67% |
| 6 | Bedok | S$545,000 | S$3,000 | 6.61% |
| 7 | Choa Chu Kang | S$590,888 | S$3,150 | 6.40% |
| 8 | Woodlands | S$590,000 | S$3,100 | 6.31% |
| 9 | Geylang | S$580,000 | S$3,000 | 6.21% |
| 10 | Sembawang | S$600,000 | S$3,100 | 6.20% |
| 11 | Clementi | S$620,000 | S$3,200 | 6.19% |
| 12 | Bukit Panjang | S$608,000 | S$3,055 | 6.03% |
| 13 | Hougang | S$628,000 | S$3,100 | 5.92% |
| 14 | Bukit Batok | S$618,000 | S$3,000 | 5.83% |
| 15 | Pasir Ris | S$720,000 | S$3,500 | 5.83% |
| 16 | Sengkang | S$660,000 | S$3,200 | 5.82% |
| 17 | Serangoon | S$661,888 | S$3,200 | 5.80% |
| 18 | Punggol | S$675,000 | S$3,200 | 5.69% |
| 19 | Tampines | S$710,000 | S$3,350 | 5.66% |
| 20 | Kallang/Whampoa | S$725,000 | S$3,300 | 5.46% |
| 21 | Bukit Merah | S$790,000 | S$3,500 | 5.32% |
| 22 | Bishan | S$840,444 | S$3,600 | 5.14% |
| 23 | Toa Payoh | S$780,000 | S$3,100 | 4.77% |
| 24 | Queenstown | S$838,714 | S$3,300 | 4.72% |
| 25 | Bukit Timah | S$990,000 | S$3,500 | 4.24% |
Source: data.gov.sg HDB resale flat prices and HDB rental contracts, computed 27 July 2026. Full machine readable table at our rental yield ranking report, refreshed periodically.
The pattern the table is actually showing you
Look down the list and a clear structure emerges. The top of the table, Jurong East, Jurong West, Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Bedok, Choa Chu Kang, is dominated by mature or maturing towns where resale prices are moderate but rents have held up because the towns are large, well connected by MRT, and popular with tenants who want space and transport without paying central prices. The bottom of the table, Bukit Timah, Queenstown, Toa Payoh, Bishan, is dominated by towns where resale prices have been bid up by scarcity, small flat supply, or proximity to the city and good schools, but rents have not risen proportionately.
That is the whole mechanism. Yield is not really a measure of "good" or "bad" towns. It is a measure of the gap between what a flat costs and what a tenant will pay for it. A high yield town is not necessarily a better place to live; it usually means the resale price has not (yet, or ever) caught up to what the location is worth to a renter. A low yield town, Bukit Timah being the extreme case, usually means buyers are paying a premium for something rent does not fully capture, prestige, school proximity, land scarcity, that a tenant is not willing to pay for on a monthly basis.
Why Jurong East and Jurong West sit at the top
Both towns benefit from being major transport and commercial nodes (Jurong East is a regional hub with two MRT lines and the Jurong Lake District masterplan; Jurong West is one of the largest and most populous towns) while resale prices have stayed comparatively moderate relative to their rent levels. Whether that yield gap narrows as Jurong Lake District development matures is a genuine open question, not something this article can forecast.
Why Bukit Timah sits at the bottom
Bukit Timah has a small HDB stock (only 57 resale transactions in the trailing window, the smallest sample in this ranking) concentrated near premier schools and low density private housing. Resale prices are bid up by scarcity and school proximity; rents have not kept pace because the pool of tenants willing to pay a premium for an HDB flat specifically in Bukit Timah, rather than a condo nearby, is small. Treat this row with extra caution given the thin sample size.
What this ranking is not telling you
A few honest caveats, because a table like this invites over reading:
- This is gross yield, not net. Property tax on a non owner occupied HDB flat, conservancy and MCST-equivalent charges, maintenance, agent commission on tenancy renewal and any vacancy between tenants all cut into the number. A reasonable rule of thumb is to knock 1 to 1.5 percentage points off gross yield to approximate net, though your actual figure depends on your flat type and financing.
- Town level, not unit level. A specific block, floor and flat type within a "high yield" town can still be a poor rental relative to its own price, and vice versa in a "low yield" town. Use this table to shortlist towns worth a closer look, not to pick a specific unit.
- Yield and appreciation are different games. Chasing the top of this table for cashflow can mean giving up capital appreciation upside that a lower yield, higher demand town like Bishan or Queenstown might offer over a longer hold. Neither is objectively correct; it depends on what you are optimising for.
- Most HDB flats cannot be bought purely as a rental play. Minimum Occupation Period rules, eligibility conditions and the fact you generally cannot own an HDB flat and a private property simultaneously without restrictions all shape who this data is actually useful for: existing owners deciding whether to rent out a spare room or flat, and PRs or citizens weighing an HDB purchase against a private rental investment.
How to actually use this table
If you already own a flat in one of the towns near the top, Jurong East, Jurong West, Ang Mo Kio, Yishun or Bedok, and are weighing whether to rent it out rather than sell when you upgrade, this data supports that math better than towns near the bottom. If you are comparing an HDB purchase against a private condo purchase purely for rental cashflow, our rental yield by property type comparison puts HDB, condo, landed and shophouse yields side by side, and our district level rental yield guide does the same exercise for private property by district.
If you are an upgrader weighing whether to keep your current flat as a rental instead of selling it outright, run your own numbers rather than relying on the town median: your specific flat type, floor and block condition all move the actual rent you can charge. A rental yield heatmap tool and the Money, Timing & Safety self-assessment are useful starting points before you commit either way.
The verdict: a Money, Timing & Safety read
- Money: MIXED Top ranked towns offer genuinely higher gross yield, but the gap narrows sharply once property tax, MCST-equivalent charges, agent commission and vacancy are subtracted, and the highest yield towns are not automatically the towns with the strongest long-term price growth.
- Timing: STRONG This data reflects the trailing twelve months of actual transactions, not a projection, so it is a reasonable current snapshot; it will shift as new resale and rental data lands each quarter and should be refreshed before you act on it.
- Safety: STRONG The underlying data comes directly from data.gov.sg's official HDB resale and rental datasets, the same source URA and HDB themselves publish from, so the inputs are as reliable as public Singapore property data gets.
The honest takeaway is that yield tables like this one are a screening tool, not a purchase decision. They tell you where the gap between price and rent has historically been widest, which is a reasonable starting point for a shortlist, not a guarantee that the gap will persist or that any specific flat in that town will perform to the town median.
Frequently asked questions
Which HDB town has the highest rental yield in 2026?
Jurong East ranks first with a gross rental yield of approximately 7.38%, based on a median resale price of S$520,000 and median monthly rent of S$3,200 across the trailing twelve months of data.gov.sg transactions. Jurong West follows closely at 7.33%.
Which HDB town has the lowest rental yield?
Bukit Timah has the lowest gross rental yield among towns with sufficient transaction volume, at approximately 4.24%, driven by a high median resale price of S$990,000 against median rent of S$3,500. Queenstown (4.72%) and Toa Payoh (4.77%) are also near the bottom.
Is gross rental yield the same as net rental yield?
No. Gross yield in this ranking is annual rent divided by resale price, before any costs. Net yield subtracts property tax, MCST or conservancy charges, maintenance, agent commission, and vacancy periods, and is typically 1 to 1.5 percentage points lower than gross yield for a well run HDB rental.
Does high rental yield mean a good investment?
Not on its own. High yield towns in this ranking, such as Jurong East and Jurong West, tend to have lower absolute resale prices and are mature or maturing estates, which can mean less future capital appreciation upside than premium towns. Yield and appreciation are different variables and should be weighed against your own goal, whether that is cashflow or long-term capital growth.
Where does this rental yield data come from?
Every figure is computed from official data.gov.sg datasets: HDB resale flat prices (resource d_8b84c4ee58e3cfc0ece0d773c8ca6abc) and HDB rental contracts (resource d_c9f57187485a850908655db0e8cfe651), covering resale transactions from August 2025 to July 2026 and rental contracts from July 2025 to June 2026. Median price and median rent are computed independently per town, so this is a town level approximation rather than a same unit yield.
Weighing whether to rent out or sell your flat?
Town medians are a starting point, not your answer. A Property Portfolio Analysis runs your specific flat and financing against the rent versus sell decision, with no incentive to push either outcome.
Book a free portfolio analysis callWinfred Quek is the Principal of Crestbrick Pte Ltd, advising Singapore upgraders, investors, and families. CEA R073319H. The information on this page is general and does not constitute financial, investment, or mortgage advice. Rental yield figures are gross, historical, and town level approximations, not forecasts of future returns. Verify current pricing and rental data directly with data.gov.sg before making any purchasing or letting decision.