The gross yield on a Singapore condo is the yearly rent divided by the price. In URA rental contracts from Q3 2025 to Q2 2026, the median gross yield was 3.2% to 3.4%, depending on the market segment. The net yield is lower; in the worked example below it is more than a full point lower. It deducts property tax at non-owner-occupier rates, MCST fees, the agent's fee and the months the unit sits empty, and mortgage interest and income tax come off after that. The rules are simple but strict: a private home cannot be let for less than 3 consecutive months, and no more than 6 unrelated people may live in it, or 8 in a larger unit registered with URA.
Figures as at 10 October 2026. Check the official source before acting.
Gross yield and net yield
- Gross yield = 12 months of rent ÷ purchase price. It is useful for comparing units, but it ignores every cost.
- Net yield = (rent actually collected − running costs) ÷ purchase price. It is closer to what you keep.
Neither figure includes capital gains or losses, or the stamp duties and legal fees you paid to buy the unit.
The costs that turn gross into net
| Cost | What to know |
|---|---|
| Property tax | A let-out unit pays the non-owner-occupier rates: 12% on the first S$30,000 of Annual Value, rising to 36% above S$60,000. It gets no 2026 owner-occupier rebate. |
| MCST (maintenance) fees | Set by the development and charged quarterly, whether or not the unit is let. |
| Agent's fee | If you use an agent to find a tenant, budget for a commission. PropAce's calculator assumes half a month's rent a year. |
| Vacancy | The weeks between tenants, plus time for repairs. A month a year is a common planning figure, not a statistic. |
| Repairs and furnishing | Aircon servicing, appliances, repainting between tenants. |
| Mortgage interest | Usually the largest cost for a buyer with a loan. Only the interest is a cost; the principal you repay builds your equity. |
| Rental income tax | Net rent is taxed at your personal income tax rates. IRAS allows actual expenses, or 15% of gross rent plus mortgage interest. |
The rules you must follow
- Minimum stay of 3 consecutive months. URA treats any stay shorter than three consecutive months in a private home as short-term accommodation, which is not allowed. That rules out daily and weekly letting, including through booking platforms.
- Occupancy cap. Up to 6 unrelated persons may live in a private home. Owners of private homes of at least 90 sqm can register with URA to let to up to 8. URA has extended this relaxation to 31 December 2028, and can revoke it if the tenants cause serious problems for neighbours.
- Stamp duty on the lease. A tenancy agreement attracts stamp duty. IRAS says the tenant pays it unless the agreement says otherwise.
- HDB flats have different rules. They include a 6-month minimum and HDB approval. This guide covers private condos only.
What URA rental contracts show
These figures are a PropAce analysis of URA's private residential rental contracts. That is the lease data submitted to IRAS for stamp duty and published by URA. They cover non-landed homes of under 3,000 sq ft with leases in Q3 2025 to Q2 2026, the latest four complete quarters in PropAce's copy of the URA data (updated 15 August 2026). Contracts for units of 3,000 sq ft and above were left out of both tables. Each contract is placed in a market segment (CCR, RCR or OCR) by matching its project to URA's sale records. 3,041 contracts in projects with no sale record were left out.
Median monthly rent by unit size
| Segment | Under 700 sq ft | 700–999 sq ft | 1,000–1,299 sq ft | 1,300–2,999 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCR | S$4,000 (N=5,907) | S$4,950 (N=4,312) | S$6,000 (N=3,615) | S$8,500 (N=7,218) |
| RCR | S$3,400 (N=8,971) | S$4,450 (N=5,964) | S$5,200 (N=4,893) | S$6,500 (N=4,461) |
| OCR | S$3,000 (N=7,966) | S$3,700 (N=7,559) | S$4,400 (N=6,768) | S$5,200 (N=4,151) |
The spread is wide. In the OCR, for example, the middle half of 700–999 sq ft contracts ran from S$3,400 to S$4,100 a month.
Median gross yield by segment
| Segment | Contracts used | Median rent per sq ft per month | Median gross yield | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCR | 15,047 | S$6.00 | 3.15% | 2.62%–3.78% |
| RCR | 18,474 | S$5.48 | 3.35% | 2.85%–3.84% |
| OCR | 23,550 | S$4.40 | 3.44% | 3.03%–3.91% |
How the yield was worked out: each contract's rent was divided by the midpoint of URA's floor-area band, which gives rent per square foot. That was multiplied by 12 and divided by the median resale price per square foot of the same project, for contracts dated July 2025 to June 2026. Only projects with at least three resales in that time were used.
Treat these as rough guides:
- URA publishes floor area in bands, not exact sizes.
- A unit bought at a new-launch price would show a lower yield than one bought on the resale market.
- Gross yield ignores all the costs listed above.
Example: one unit through PropAce's calculator
Example (hypothetical): an OCR 2-bedroom condo of about 800 sq ft is bought for S$1,250,000. That is close to the OCR resale median of about S$1,560 psf. It is let at S$3,700 a month, the OCR median for 700–999 sq ft above. The other inputs:
- MCST fees: S$4,200 a year.
- Vacancy: 1 month a year.
- Loan: S$937,500 (75%) at an assumed 2.5% a year over 30 years.
These are the outputs from PropAce's rental yield calculator, run on 10 October 2026:
| Output | Result |
|---|---|
| Gross yield (12 months' rent ÷ price) | 3.55% |
| Rent collected after 1 month vacancy | S$40,700 |
| Running costs | S$10,754 |
| of which property tax (estimated) | S$4,704 |
| of which MCST | S$4,200 |
| of which agent's fee (half a month) | S$1,850 |
| Net rent before the loan | S$29,946 |
| Net yield | 2.40% |
| Monthly mortgage repayment | S$3,704 |
| Monthly cash flow after the mortgage | −S$1,208 |
| Rent needed to break even after the mortgage | S$5,081 |
Three things stand out:
- Costs cut the yield by a third. It falls from 3.55% gross to 2.40% net, before any interest or income tax.
- The property tax is an estimate. The calculator estimated the Annual Value from the rent (12 × rent × 0.8, a PropAce proxy, not an IRAS method). If you know your real Annual Value or tax, enter it.
- The negative cash flow is not all loss. The mortgage repayment includes principal, which pays down your loan. But you do need the cash each month to cover the gap.
Change the inputs for your own unit in the rental yield calculator. The yields page shows rents and yields by project.
Frequently asked questions
Can I let my condo on a short-term rental platform?
Not for stays shorter than three consecutive months. URA treats those as short-term accommodation, which is not allowed in private homes.
How many tenants can I have?
Up to six unrelated people. If your home is at least 90 sqm, you can register with URA to let to up to eight until 31 December 2028.
Is a 3.4% gross yield good?
It is close to the OCR median in the latest four quarters of URA data. Whether it suits you depends on your loan, how much cash you put in, and what the costs leave you with. Run your own numbers before deciding.
Does renting out my condo change my property tax?
Yes. A let-out unit is taxed at non-owner-occupier rates (12% to 36% of Annual Value), not the 0% to 32% owner-occupier rates. It also gets no 2026 rebate.
Which costs can I deduct from rental income tax?
IRAS lets you deduct actual expenses, such as mortgage interest, property tax, MCST fees, fire insurance, repairs and the agent's commission. Or you can take a flat 15% of gross rent plus your mortgage interest.
Sources
- URA: private residential rental contracts: rental contracts submitted to IRAS for stamp duty, the basis of the rent and yield tables. Data as of 15 August 2026, covering leases to Q2 2026.
- URA: private residential transactions: resale prices per square foot used for the yields. Data as of 10 October 2026.
- URA: short-term accommodation: stays of less than three consecutive months are not allowed in private homes.
- URA media release, January 2026: occupancy cap of 6, and 8 for registered private homes of at least 90 sqm, extended to 31 December 2028.
- IRAS: property tax rates: non-owner-occupier rates.
- IRAS: income from property rented out: deductible expenses and the 15% deemed-expense option.
- IRAS: who should pay stamp duty: the tenant pays stamp duty on a lease unless the agreement says otherwise.
- HDB: renting out a flat or bedrooms: HDB rules, which differ from private homes.