These Are Our Top 5 Condos in Tampines, Ranked by the Data

Search "best condo in D18" and you'll get a ranking that quietly mixes three different towns — Tampines, Pasir Ris and Simei all share postal District 18. So before ranking anything, we filtered the Resale Project Scorecard (RPS) data down to the 14 scored condos that actually sit in Tampines. The result is striking: seven of the 14 hold S grades, the town's mean RPS score of 7.41 sits more than a full point above the Singapore-wide mean of 5.99 — and the top three on the list all started life as executive condominiums.

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First, What We Filtered Out

District 18 contains 43 scored resale projects. By actual location, that breaks down to 14 in Tampines, 20 in Pasir Ris and 9 in Simei. A "top condos in D18" list would be headed by a near-even mix of Tampines and Pasir Ris projects — NV Residences (8.33), The Palette (8.16) and D'Nest (8.11) are all strong S-grade performers, and all three are in Pasir Ris Grove, not Tampines.

This article ranks Tampines only. Pasir Ris deserves its own list, and Simei — technically part of the Tampines planning area, but a distinct estate hugging the East-West Line — is excluded too.

A quick note on the methodology: RPS scores 2,350 resale condos across Singapore on seven weighted factors — secondary market performance, schools, project size, MRT proximity, tenure, rental yield and future transformation. The secondary market score is cohort-relative: each condo is measured against projects that reached TOP in the same two-year window, so a 10/10 means top-quartile appreciation against its own vintage, not just a rising district tide. The full methodology is published at tribesg.com/rps.

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The Top 5

All five are 99-year leasehold. Three of the five score a perfect 10 on secondary market performance.

1. The Tampines Trilliant — 8.74, S

The top condo in Tampines is a former EC by Sim Lian. Its scorecard reads: average annualised appreciation of +5.08%, which "places this condo in the top 3% of its 2015-era cohort — exceptional capital appreciation relative to peers of the same vintage." Add a 10/10 schools score — four primary schools within 1km, the nearest (Angsana Primary) at 0.41km — 420 m from Tampines MRT (EW2 / DT32), and 670 units, which the scorecard calls "ideal scale for liquidity and facilities without crowding."

Its one genuine weakness is future transformation, at 3/10: the nearest catalyst is the Pasir Ris Cross Island Line interchange at 1.82km, "far enough that the impact on this project is modest."

2. CityLife @ Tampines — 8.55, S

Another former EC, almost next door to the Trilliant, with a near-identical profile: appreciation of +5.15% per annum, top 6% of its 2016-era cohort, the same four primary schools within 1km, and 420 m to Tampines MRT. The gap to first place comes down to yield — 3.04%, which the scorecard flags as "below-average income return" (4/10), against the Trilliant's 3.58%.

3. Arc @ Tampines — 8.48, S

The third former EC in a row. Appreciation of +4.21% per annum puts it in the top 6% of its 2014-era cohort, and its 3.80% rental yield is the stronger of the top three. The trade-off is location within the town: at 1.3 km from Tampines West MRT (DT31), the scorecard scores MRT access 4/10 — "weaker MRT access, likely requires bus or car for most trips" — and only one primary school sits within 1km.

4. The Alps Residences — 8.44, S

The first private (non-EC) condo on the list, in the Tampines Street 86 cluster. Its standout number is yield: 4.68%, which the scorecard calls "exceptional income return" — the highest of the five. Appreciation of +4.39% per annum lands in the 81st percentile of its 2019-era cohort, and it scores 6/10 on future transformation thanks to the Paya Lebar Air Base redevelopment 0.64km away. Like Arc, the weakness is MRT access: 1.4 km from Tampines West.

5. The Santorini — 8.10, S

The second private condo on the list, and a neighbour of The Alps in the Tampines Street 86 cluster. The Santorini is a 597-unit, 99-year leasehold project by UOL, completed in 2017, with about 86 years left on the lease. Its scorecard leans on schools and size: two primary schools within 1km (the nearest, Poi Ching, at 0.96km) for a 10/10 schools score, and 597 units, "ideal scale for liquidity and facilities without crowding." Appreciation of +2.93% per annum is top-quartile for its 2017-era cohort (75th percentile, 8/10), the 4.01% rental yield is a "strong income return", and the Paya Lebar Air Base redevelopment 0.62km away earns 6/10 on future transformation. The weakness is the cluster's: 1.3 km from Tampines West MRT (DT31), so 4/10 on MRT access.

Just outside the five: The Tapestry at 7.98, and Treasure @ Tampines at 7.91 — Singapore's largest condo by unit count (2,203 units), with the highest raw appreciation figure of the town's seven S grades (+5.40% per annum, top 8% of its 2023-era cohort) and a 560 m walk to Simei MRT (EW3), held back by its size score (6/10, "heavier intra-project competition at resale") and future transformation at 2/10.

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The EC Pattern

The top three condos in Tampines all launched as executive condominiums. That is not a coincidence, and it mirrors what the data shows in District 19, where former ECs dominate the top of the table.

The mechanism is simple. ECs launch at a discount to comparable private condos because of their eligibility restrictions. After the five-year MOP — and full privatisation at year ten — they trade in the open resale market against private peers. The buyer who entered at EC pricing captures that convergence as cohort-beating appreciation, which is exactly what the secondary market score measures. The Trilliant's top-3% and CityLife's top-6% cohort rankings are that mechanism showing up in the transaction record.

For today's resale buyer the entry discount is gone — these now trade as ordinary private condos. But the structural demand that drove the convergence (Tampines' deep pool of HDB upgraders, the regional centre's employment base, the school catchment) is unchanged.

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The Honest Caveats

Future transformation is the town's weak factor. The Trilliant and CityLife score 3/10; Arc, The Alps and The Santorini score a moderate 6/10. Tampines is a mature regional centre — most of its infrastructure has already been built and is already priced in. The Cross Island Line will add a Tampines North station in the coming years, but by the scorecard's distance bands, none of the top five sits close enough to a confirmed catalyst to earn a high forward-looking score. If your thesis is "buy ahead of infrastructure," Tampines North's newer projects — or another town entirely — fit better than this list.

The Street 86 cluster trades MRT access for yield. The Alps Residences and The Santorini (and the near-miss The Tapestry at 7.98) all sit 1.3–1.4 km from Tampines West MRT. The scorecard is blunt about it: bus or car for most trips. The compensation shows up in rental yield — 4.68%, 4.01% and 4.60% for Alps, Santorini and Tapestry respectively.

Everything here is 99-year leasehold. Remaining tenure ranges from about 84 years (Trilliant, Arc) to about 88 years (Alps) — no near-term decay concern on any of them, but there is no freehold option at the top of the Tampines table.

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The Bottom Line

Tampines is one of the strongest condo towns in Singapore by the data: a 50% S-grade rate against a 9.3% national average, and a top five whose mean RPS score is 8.46. The pattern is consistent — cohort-beating appreciation built on upgrader demand, school density and the regional centre, with the entry points historically created by EC pricing.

What the data does not support is treating "D18" as a proxy for Tampines. More than half of the district's S-grade condos are in Pasir Ris. If you're comparing listings, check where the project actually stands — not just its postal district.

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Check How Your Condo Scores

Every condo in this article is among the 2,350 independently scored across Singapore — each graded on seven weighted factors: secondary market performance, schools, size, MRT proximity, tenure, rental yield, and future transformation.

Score your resale condo on RPS →

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Scores and grades as at 16 October 2026.

Silas Tan is a District Director at Huttons Asia and co-founder of TRIBE. He built the Resale Project Scorecard (RPS) using 236,000+ URA REALIS transactions. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. CEA Registration R000303I.