These Are Our Top 5 Condos in Pasir Ris

Last week we ranked the East Coast — freehold land, a brand-new train line, and rental yields so thin they barely cover the carry. Drive ten minutes north-east and the trade-off flips. Pasir Ris is leasehold to the last block, but its best resale condos do the one thing the East Coast's can't: they pay you a real, above-average rent. And the train story here isn't finished — it's being built. We ran every condo in Pasir Ris through the Resale Project Scorecard (RPS) and let the data pick the top five. All five are grade S, all five are leasehold, and the number they no longer trade away is income.

The RPS scores each project from 126,000-plus URA REALIS transactions across seven weighted factors — secondary-market strength, primary-school catchment, project size, MRT access, tenure, rental yield and future-transformation upside — each marked out of 10 and rolled into one score and a letter grade from S to D. Methodology published, no spin. One housekeeping note before the ranking: District 18 is not a single town. It spans Pasir Ris, Tampines and Simei, and we've already covered Tampines on its own. So this list is filtered to Pasir Ris proper — projects anchored on Pasir Ris MRT (EW1) and the Elias Park, Casuarina and Park View school belt — not the wider district. We also rank open-market private condos here; Pasir Ris's executive condominiums (Belysa, at 7.92, is the area's strongest scorer of any kind) are excluded as a distinct product, as in our other reviews.

The District 18 story: a leasehold town that earns its keep

Pasir Ris has never pretended to be prestige property. It is a planned 1990s estate at the end of the East-West Line — beach park, low-rise neighbourhood, family town. What the scorecard picks up is that this unglamorous profile produces something the prime districts mostly can't: rental yields above the national average. Every one of the five below earns between 3.3% and 4.0% gross, against the 2.5%-ish yields we found on the freehold East Coast strip. Leasehold land bought at a sensible quantum, rented to a steady tenant pool, simply throws off more income per dollar than a freehold trophy. That's the central fact of investing here.

The second fact is forward-looking. The Cross Island Line (CRL) — Singapore's longest MRT line — turns Pasir Ris into an interchange (CR5) and adds a new Pasir Ris East (CR3) station, with the first phase targeted to open around 2031. The scorecard files this under future-transformation, and for Pasir Ris it reads "moderate": real, at-the-doorstep upside, but a diffuse, town-wide tailwind rather than a single-project windfall. You're buying a town that gets materially better-connected this decade, not one that already has. The five split on a familiar axis — how close to the existing train, and how strong the school catchment — but they share the leasehold clock and the above-average rent.

1. NV Residences — 8.20, grade S

NV Residences tops Pasir Ris on the most balanced profile in the town. A Sim Lian 2013 development of 642 units — squarely in the liquidity sweet spot — it pairs top-quartile capital growth (+2.07% a year, the 70th percentile of its 2013 cohort) with a 0.66km walk to Pasir Ris MRT (EW1) and the deepest school catchment on this list: four primaries within 1km, Elias Park Primary just 0.31km away. The income is the quiet headline — a 3.50% gross yield, above average. With about 81 years left on the lease there's no near-term decay concern. For a family that wants scale, schools at the doorstep and a rent that actually services the loan, it's the all-rounder.

2. D'Nest — 8.11, grade S

D'Nest is the income pick of the top tier. A CapitaLand 2017 development of 912 units, it logs the closest MRT of the leading pair — 0.48km to Pasir Ris MRT — strong appreciation for its vintage (+2.94% a year, 76th percentile of its 2017 cohort), and an exceptional school catchment anchored on Elias Park Primary at 0.49km. Its standout number is the rent: at 3.81% gross, the strongest income return of the five. A large, younger leasehold project with active resale turnover and roughly 83 years on the clock — for a buyer who wants the best yield among the high scorers without giving up scale, this is the one.

3. The Palette — 8.03, grade S

The Palette rounds out the top three as the appreciation story of the group. A Far East Organization 2015 development of 892 units, its capital growth is the best on a percentile basis here — +2.96% a year, the 87th percentile of its 2015 cohort — paired with a 0.70km walk to Pasir Ris MRT and three primaries within 1km (Elias Park at 0.45km). The yield is 3.38%, above average, and the lease runs about 83 years. A large, well-located project with proven price performance: for a buyer who weights resale growth most heavily, The Palette earns its place at the top.

4. Coco Palms — 7.64, grade S

Coco Palms is the commuter's pick. A City Developments 2018 development of 944 units, it's the only one of the five with direct, walk-in MRT access — 310m to Pasir Ris station — and it posts the strongest capital growth on the list, +4.10% a year (80th percentile of its 2018 cohort), alongside a healthy 3.76% yield. Elias Park Primary sits 0.23km away. As the largest and one of the newest projects here, with around 81 years on the lease, its only real reservation is a slightly narrower school count (two primaries within 1km) than the names above. For a buyer who values a short walk to the train above all, it's the standout.

5. Watercolours — 7.49, grade S

Watercolours is the yield-and-growth pick for a buyer willing to drive to the train. A Keppel Land 2014 development of 416 units, it carries the best rental yield of the five — 3.96% gross — and genuinely exceptional capital appreciation: +3.65% a year puts it in the top 7% of its 2014 cohort. The honest trade-off is transport: at 1.20km from Pasir Ris MRT, this is bus-or-car access rather than a doorstep walk — though the future Pasir Ris East (CR3) CRL station sits just 0.25km away, which is precisely the kind of catalyst the scorecard is flagging. Casuarina Primary is 0.46km off, the lease runs about 85 years — the longest here — and for an investor chasing income and proven growth, the walk to the current train is the only compromise.

What they share — and what to watch

Run the five side by side and Pasir Ris's signature is clear.

Three things bind the list. The first is tenure: every project is 99-year leasehold, all with roughly 81 to 85 years remaining — long enough that lease decay is not a live concern this decade, but it is the clock the East Coast's freehold stock doesn't carry. You are trading title for everything below.

The second is income, and here Pasir Ris quietly wins. Every one of the five rents at an above-average yield, 3.38% to 3.96% gross — the mirror image of the freehold East Coast, where the same exercise turned up 2.5%-ish yields that barely cover a financed purchase. If you are buying to let, the leasehold suburb is where the rent actually does work; we walked through exactly why thin yields hurt a financed landlord in a companion piece on the carry on a rental condo, and Pasir Ris is the counter-example.

The third is the catalyst still under construction. The whole town's future-transformation sub-score reads moderate because the Cross Island Line is coming, not here — Pasir Ris becomes a CRL interchange and gains a Pasir Ris East station around 2031. That is genuine forward upside, but it's also a reason the scores cluster in the high-7s and low-8s rather than higher: you are paid in yield today and connectivity later, not in a prime-district premium now.

The choice inside this top five isn't "which is best" — all five are grade S and separated by about half a point — but which trade-off you want. NV Residences and D'Nest give you scale, the deepest schools and a walkable train. The Palette gives you the strongest proven appreciation. Coco Palms gives you the only doorstep MRT. Watercolours gives you the highest rent and a front-row seat to the new CRL station, if you'll drive to the current one. A note on the next tier: Ripple Bay (7.46), Livia (7.44) and Vue 8 Residence (7.38) are all grade S and worth a direct look — Livia in particular for a buyer who wants Elias Park Primary at 0.21km with a shorter walk to the existing train than Watercolours.

See the full ranking and every project's scorecard at tribesg.com/rps.

Sources: TRIBE Resale Project Scorecard (126,000+ URA REALIS transactions; scores and reasons as at June 2026). Cross Island Line stations and indicative timeline per LTA. Scores and grades are model outputs, not investment advice.

Silas Tan is a District Director at Huttons Asia and co-founder of TRIBE. He built the Resale Project Scorecard (RPS) using 126,000+ URA REALIS transactions. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. CEA Registration R000303I.