Rents in the second quarter of 2026 held steady and rose slightly. HDB approved 10,002 applications to rent out flats, up 4.9% on the quarter. The typical 4-room HDB rent was $3,400 a month, up from $3,300 a year earlier. URA's private rental index rose 0.7%. But private vacancy rose to 6.4% and suburban condo rents slipped, and more new flats reach their MOP every year. Landlords should expect steady rents, not rises, and price by their block and unit, not headlines.
The official 2Q 2026 figures
| Measure | 2Q 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| HDB applications approved to rent out a flat | 10,002 | +4.9% on 1Q (9,535); −0.6% on 2Q 2025 |
| HDB flats rented out, end of quarter | 58,855 | +0.3% on 1Q |
| URA private rental index | — | +0.7% (1Q: +0.3%) |
| Private non-landed rents: city centre (CCR) | — | +1.2% |
| Private non-landed rents: city fringe (RCR) | — | 0.0% |
| Private non-landed rents: suburbs (OCR) | — | −0.3% |
| Vacancy, completed private homes | 6.4% | up from 6.2%; CCR 8.3%, RCR 6.1%, OCR 5.6% |
Landed homes drove most of the private rise, at +2.7% against +0.4% for condos and apartments. The table shows URA's quarterly changes. The more telling private figure is vacancy: it rose in the city centre and the suburbs. New supply kept coming, with 1,611 private homes and 872 executive condos completed in the first half of 2026.
HDB median rents by town
HDB publishes a median monthly rent for each town and flat type every quarter, based on the rentals it approves. The 4-room change compares 2Q 2026 with 2Q 2025. A dash means HDB did not publish a figure because there were too few rentals.
| Town | 3-room | 4-room | 4-room, year on year | 5-room |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ang Mo Kio | $2,800 | $3,500 | +2.9% | $3,880 |
| Bedok | $2,800 | $3,400 | +3.0% | $3,650 |
| Bishan | $3,000 | $3,650 | +1.4% | $4,000 |
| Bukit Batok | $2,700 | $3,300 | +1.5% | $3,600 |
| Bukit Merah | $3,000 | $4,000 | +2.6% | $4,300 |
| Bukit Panjang | $2,600 | $3,000 | 0.0% | $3,300 |
| Central Area | $3,300 | $4,600 | +3.6% | $5,100 |
| Choa Chu Kang | $2,500 | $3,000 | −4.8% | $3,200 |
| Clementi | $3,000 | $3,900 | 0.0% | $4,350 |
| Geylang | $2,800 | $3,800 | +5.6% | $4,000 |
| Hougang | $2,800 | $3,200 | 0.0% | $3,450 |
| Jurong East | $2,800 | $3,400 | 0.0% | $3,800 |
| Jurong West | $2,700 | $3,500 | +3.9% | $3,700 |
| Kallang/Whampoa | $3,000 | $3,800 | +5.6% | $4,100 |
| Marine Parade | $3,000 | $3,350 | −4.3% | — |
| Pasir Ris | — | $3,350 | +1.5% | $3,600 |
| Punggol | $2,850 | $3,300 | +3.1% | $3,300 |
| Queenstown | $3,100 | $4,130 | +3.2% | $4,400 |
| Sembawang | — | $3,180 | +2.6% | $3,300 |
| Sengkang | $2,900 | $3,200 | +3.2% | $3,300 |
| Serangoon | $2,800 | $3,400 | −2.9% | $3,800 |
| Tampines | $2,800 | $3,500 | +2.9% | $3,650 |
| Toa Payoh | $2,900 | $3,800 | +5.6% | $4,030 |
| Woodlands | $2,600 | $3,100 | +3.3% | $3,300 |
| Yishun | $2,700 | $3,100 | 0.0% | $3,500 |
Of the 25 towns with a 4-room figure, 17 were higher than a year earlier and 3 were lower, and the typical town was up 2.6%. The top 4-room rents were in the Central Area ($4,600), Queenstown ($4,130) and Bukit Merah ($4,000). The lowest were in Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang ($3,000). Across all approved rentals from April to June, the median was $2,850 for a 3-room flat, $3,400 for a 4-room, $3,500 for a 5-room and $3,800 for an executive flat. In July and August, the 3-room median rose to $2,900 and the 4-room median stayed at $3,400.
Gross rental yield by town
Yield is the question most landlords are really asking. Divide a year's median rent by the median resale price for the same town and flat type, and you get a rough gross yield. It is before property tax, maintenance, agent fees and empty months, and it assumes an average flat. The table covers towns with at least 20 4-room resale deals in the quarter.
| Town (4-room) | Median rent | Median resale price | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jurong West | $3,500 | $530,000 | 7.9% |
| Jurong East | $3,400 | $559,444 | 7.3% |
| Bedok | $3,400 | $585,000 | 7.0% |
| Yishun | $3,100 | $545,000 | 6.8% |
| Woodlands | $3,100 | $550,000 | 6.8% |
| Ang Mo Kio | $3,500 | $644,400 | 6.5% |
| Choa Chu Kang | $3,000 | $560,000 | 6.4% |
| Geylang | $3,800 | $710,000 | 6.4% |
| Sembawang | $3,180 | $595,000 | 6.4% |
| Pasir Ris | $3,350 | $630,000 | 6.4% |
| Bukit Panjang | $3,000 | $565,000 | 6.4% |
| Tampines | $3,500 | $668,000 | 6.3% |
| Hougang | $3,200 | $621,444 | 6.2% |
| Bukit Batok | $3,300 | $645,888 | 6.1% |
| Serangoon | $3,400 | $670,000 | 6.1% |
| Sengkang | $3,200 | $641,000 | 6.0% |
| Punggol | $3,300 | $680,000 | 5.8% |
| Bishan | $3,650 | $788,000 | 5.6% |
| Clementi | $3,900 | $882,000 | 5.3% |
| Bukit Merah | $4,000 | $950,000 | 5.1% |
| Kallang/Whampoa | $3,800 | $919,444 | 5.0% |
| Queenstown | $4,130 | $1,021,500 | 4.9% |
| Central Area | $4,600 | $1,194,444 | 4.6% |
| Toa Payoh | $3,800 | $1,019,000 | 4.5% |
The pattern is consistent: rents vary far less between towns than prices do. A 4-room flat in Jurong West rents for $3,500 on a $530,000 median price, about 7.9% gross. In Toa Payoh it rents for $3,800 on a median above $1 million, about 4.5%. The same holds for 3-room flats, which yield most in older central towns like Geylang and Toa Payoh. Treat these as a guide, not a forecast. The flats rented out are often older and cheaper than the flats sold in the same town, which flatters the high-yield towns somewhat.
What private landlords are seeing
Monthly flash estimates from SRX and 99.co, which are not official statistics, show condo rents about 2% to 2.5% higher year on year in each month from April to July 2026. July was busy: a record 9,627 condo rentals, up 38% on June, with rents up 1.6% on the month. Part of that jump is seasonal. The official quarter tells a more cautious story for suburban condos: rents in the outer suburbs slipped 0.3% while vacancy rose to 5.6%. Newly completed projects compete directly with older condos for the same tenants.
What landlords can expect for the rest of 2026
- More flats competing for tenants. 13,500 flats reach their MOP in 2026 and 15,000 in 2027, according to HDB. Many owners of those flats will rent them out. Expect HDB rents to hold rather than rise quickly.
- Private vacancy is the risk. About 25,900 private homes in URA's pipeline are due by 2028. Suburban vacancy rose from 5.2% to 5.6% in one quarter, so condo landlords there should price to fill the unit, not to hold out.
- Renewals beat new leases. With rents flat to slightly up, keeping a good tenant at a modest increase usually earns more than a better rent with an empty month or two.
- Selling may beat renting. Since 28 July, private owners can buy resale flats without the 15-month wait. That brings more cash buyers for larger flats. Some landlords of mature-town 5-room flats may do better selling than renting. The wait-out guide explains the change, and the 2Q 2026 resale price guide shows the prices.
Rules before you rent out an HDB flat
You can rent out the whole flat only after its five-year minimum occupation period and with HDB's approval. The minimum lease is six months. Non-Malaysian non-citizen tenants renting a whole flat count toward a non-citizen quota of 8% of flats in the neighbourhood and 11% in the block. If the quota is full, only Singaporean and Malaysian tenants are allowed. Check your block's quota before you advertise. Rental income is taxable, and an HDB flat that isn't owner-occupied pays property tax at non-owner-occupier rates.
Your next steps
- Check your town's median on the table above, then look at your block's recent resale prices to work out your own yield.
- Check HDB's non-citizen quota for your block before choosing tenants.
- If you are weighing renting against selling, get a valuation and read selling after MOP.
List your flat for rent with me or book a 15-minute call to compare renting with selling on your own flat. The commission guide covers what a rental agent's fee should include.
Sources and review date
Reviewed 17 Sep 2026. Official figures are from HDB's 2nd Quarter 2026 public housing data (24 July 2026) and URA's 2nd Quarter 2026 real estate statistics (24 July 2026). Town medians are from HDB's median rent by town and flat type. Islandwide medians are my own analysis of HDB's renting out of flats records, which count 9,424 approvals in the quarter against HDB's headline 10,002. Yields combine those rents with HDB's resale prices; all data.gov.sg data is under the Singapore Open Data Licence and was downloaded 17 September 2026. Private flash estimates are from SRX and 99.co's monthly reports for June and July 2026. MOP supply is from HDB's 28 July 2026 release, and rental rules are from HDB's eligibility page.
Frequently asked questions
Are HDB rents going up in 2026?
Slowly. The median 4-room HDB rent was $3,400 a month in 2Q 2026, up from $3,300 a year earlier, and 17 of 25 towns with a 4-room figure were higher than a year before. HDB approved 10,002 applications to rent out flats in the quarter, 4.9% more than in 1Q.
What is the average rent for a 4-room HDB flat?
The median across all 4-room rentals HDB approved in April to June 2026 was $3,400 a month. Town medians ranged from $3,000 in Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang to $4,600 in the Central Area.
Which HDB towns have the highest rental yield?
Dividing 2Q 2026 median rent by median resale price, 4-room flats yielded most in Jurong West (about 7.9% gross), Jurong East (7.3%) and Bedok (7.0%), and least in Toa Payoh (4.5%) and the Central Area (4.6%). These are gross figures before costs and vacancy.
Did private condo rents rise in 2Q 2026?
URA’s private rental index rose 0.7% in 2Q 2026. Non-landed rents rose 1.2% in the city centre, were flat in the city fringe and fell 0.3% in the suburbs, while vacancy of completed private homes rose to 6.4%.
This guide is general market information, not tax, legal or investment advice. Rental approval, quotas and tax are decided by HDB and IRAS on your own case. Check the official pages linked above before signing a tenancy.