These Are Our Top 5 Condos in Yishun & Sembawang

Two weeks ago we ranked Pasir Ris and found a leasehold town that earns its keep on rent. Drive across the island to the far north and the pattern repeats, with one twist. Yishun and Sembawang are leasehold to the last block, their best private condos pay above-average yields — and the very top of the district is occupied almost entirely by executive condominiums, which we exclude as a distinct product. Strip the ECs out and what's left is a tight cluster of grade-S private condos, most of them sitting within a short walk of an MRT station that didn't exist when they were built. We ran every project in District 27 through the Resale Project Scorecard (RPS) and let the data pick the top five private condos. All five are grade S — and none of them is selling you a future catalyst.

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 filter before the ranking: District 27 is dominated at the top by executive condominiums — Parc Life (8.92), The Brownstone (8.91) and The Visionaire (8.78) all out-score everything below — and we exclude ECs here as we do in every review, because they're a different product with their own resale rules. This list is open-market private condos only.

The District 27 story: a station that arrived after the condos

Yishun and Sembawang have never been prestige addresses, and the scorecard doesn't pretend otherwise. What it picks up is the same thing it found in Pasir Ris: an unglamorous, planned northern estate that throws off above-average rental yields — every one of the five below rents between 3.40% and 4.05% gross, comfortably ahead of the prime districts. Leasehold land bought at a sensible quantum and let to a steady tenant pool simply pays more income per dollar than a trophy address.

The twist is the train. Canberra MRT (NS12) opened in November 2019 as an infill station on the existing North-South Line — slotted in between Sembawang and Yishun years after most of the condos around it were already built and sold. Four of our five top scorers sit within about half a kilometre of it, which means they were repriced upward by a connectivity upgrade they didn't have to wait for. That's the opposite of Pasir Ris, where the catalyst — the Cross Island Line — is still under construction. Here the upgrade has already happened, and the scorecard reflects it in the access scores, not the future-transformation ones.

That's the honest caveat for the whole district. Future-transformation is the weak sub-score across all five: the RPS finds no major URA transformation zone or new MRT station within meaningful range — the nearest forward catalyst it can identify is the long-dated Sembawang Shipyard waterfront redevelopment, roughly two kilometres away. You are buying income and schools today, not a future windfall. The five split on a familiar axis — how close to the train and how deep the school catchment — but they share the leasehold clock and the absence of a big catalyst ahead.

1. Eight Courtyards — 8.30, grade S

Eight Courtyards tops the private field on the strongest capital-growth record in the district. A 2014, 654-unit development on Canberra Drive — squarely in the liquidity sweet spot — it logs +2.80% annual appreciation, the 87th percentile of its 2014 cohort, the best percentile rank of our five. It pairs that with a 0.49km walk to Canberra MRT (NS12) and the deepest school catchment on this list: four primaries within 1km, Ahmad Ibrahim Primary 0.58km away. The income is solid at a 3.40% gross yield, above average, and with about 83 years left on the lease there's no near-term decay concern. For a family that wants scale, schools at the doorstep and proven resale performance, it's the all-rounder.

2. North Park Residences — 8.08, grade S

North Park Residences is the convenience pick, and the only one of the five that isn't in the Canberra cluster. A Frasers Property 2018 development of 920 units built directly above Northpoint City in Yishun town centre, it offers the best transport on the list — 130m to Yishun MRT (NS13), walk-in access — alongside the deepest school catchment here, six primaries within 1km (Yishun Primary 0.56km). Its capital growth is strong for its vintage (+3.53% a year, 74th percentile of its 2018 cohort) and the rent is healthy at 3.80% gross. As the youngest large project of the group, it has about 88 years on the clock. For a buyer who wants a mall, an interchange-grade town centre and a train under the building, this is the one — you pay for that integration in price, not in compromise.

3. The Commodore — 7.92, grade S

The Commodore is the income-and-newness pick. A 2024 completion of 219 units on Canberra Drive, it carries the highest rental yield of the five — 4.05% gross — and the longest lease, about 93 years remaining, which is as close to freehold-equivalent runway as a 99-year project gets. It sits 300m from Canberra MRT with walk-in access, and its appreciation is strong for so young a project (+3.31% a year, 81st percentile of its 2024 cohort). The honest trade-off is schools: just one primary within 1km (Sembawang Primary, 0.79km), the narrowest catchment on the list. For an investor who weights yield and lease runway over school optionality, The Commodore is the standout.

4. The Nautical — 7.64, grade S

The Nautical is the Sembawang value pick. An EL Development 2015 project of 435 units, it pairs a 0.56km walk to Canberra MRT with a strong school catchment — two primaries within 1km, Sembawang Primary just 0.44km away — and a healthy 3.63% gross yield, above average. Its capital growth is top-quartile for its vintage (+2.32% a year, 77th percentile of its 2015 cohort), and the lease runs about 84 years. A mid-sized, well-located project closer to the Sembawang side of the cluster: for a buyer who wants the Canberra-MRT access and the Sembawang school belt without the newest-project premium, it earns its place.

5. Canberra Residences — 7.40, grade S

Canberra Residences rounds out the five as the school-belt pick for a value-minded buyer. A Hoi Hup Realty 2013 development of 320 units, it offers the closest primary school of any project here — Sembawang Primary at 0.35km — two primaries within 1km, a 0.50km walk to Canberra MRT and a steady 3.59% gross yield, above average. The reservation is in the resale record: its appreciation is near-median, +1.81% a year (63rd percentile of its 2013 cohort) — solid but not the top-quartile growth of the names above it, which is exactly why it scores a notch lower. The lease runs about 83 years. For a family prioritising the shortest school walk on the list at a sensible quantum, it's the pick.

What they share — and what to watch

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

Three things bind the list. The first is tenure: every project is 99-year leasehold, with roughly 83 to 93 years remaining — long enough that lease decay is not a live concern this decade, but it is the clock you're carrying.

The second is income. Every one of the five rents at an above-average yield, 3.40% to 4.05% gross — the same quiet strength we found in Pasir Ris, and the mirror image of the prime districts, where the same exercise turns up sub-3% yields that barely cover a financed purchase. If you are buying to let, the leasehold north is where the rent actually does work; we walked through why thin yields punish a financed landlord in a companion piece on the carry on a rental condo, and this cluster is the counter-example.

The third is what's missing — a catalyst ahead. Unlike Pasir Ris with its incoming Cross Island Line, the scorecard finds no major transformation zone or new station within meaningful range of these five. The connectivity upgrade already arrived, in the form of Canberra MRT in 2019, and it's priced in. That's why the scores cluster in the high-7s and low-8s rather than higher: you are paid in yield and schools today, not in a future-uplift premium.

The choice inside this top five isn't "which is best" — all five are grade S and separated by less than a point — but which trade-off you want. Eight Courtyards gives you the deepest schools and the best proven growth. North Park Residences gives you a mall and a train under the building. The Commodore gives you the highest rent and the longest lease. The Nautical gives you Sembawang-side value. Canberra Residences gives you the shortest school walk. And the standing caveat bears repeating: the area's genuine top scorers — Parc Life (8.92), The Brownstone (8.91) and The Visionaire (8.78) — are executive condos we exclude here; if you qualify and an EC's resale and resale-levy rules suit you, they're worth a separate look.

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). Canberra MRT opening per LTA. Project tenure and developer details cross-checked against EdgeProp and PropertyGuru project records. 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.