After years of waiting for construction to finish, your new condo is ready. Now all you have to do is find a tenant so you can collect rent and use that income to offset your mortgage.

There is just one small problem: you may be collecting your keys at the same time as many other owners in your project or nearby developments. That can mean several similar units competing for the same tenants, even if the wider rental market is still holding up.

So, what does this mean for you?

Singapore's private rental market had just gone through one of its strongest runs in years. In 2022, rents for non-landed private homes rose by almost 30% over the year. Even in 2023, when rental growth started to cool, non-landed rents still increased by 6.9%.

So if you bought a new launch between 2021 and 2023, you might have thought "by the time my unit is completed, there should be plenty of tenants willing to pay". And yet, landlords are experiencing a different reality today.

To be clear, Singapore's rental market has not suddenly collapsed. URA's Q2 2026 data shows that private residential rents increased by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter, up from the 0.3% increase recorded in Q1.

So it's not that no one wants to rent. There are still plenty of tenants out there. But the rental market you are entering today is not the same one you were looking at when you bought.

There is more supply now. About 21,300 private residential units, including ECs, were completed in 2023, more than twice the number completed in 2022 and the highest annual completion level since 2016, according to URA.

And there is more on the way. According to URA, 1,611 private residential units and 872 EC units obtained TOP in the first half of 2026 alone. And that's not even the major completion wave. URA also stated in its Q2 2026 release that around 60,600 private residential units, including ECs, are expected to be completed in the coming years. Of these, about 25,900 are expected to be completed by 2028.

Yet, the vacancy rate for completed private residential units edged up from 6.2% in Q1 to 6.4% in Q2.

For owners, especially those in newly completed projects, the pressure is on. Several similar units may be marketed for rent at the same time, giving tenants more choice and putting pressure on asking rents, even though the broader rental index is rising.

It's a hard pill to swallow, but it's true nevertheless.

You may have bought your unit for $1.5 million. You may have taken a $1 million mortgage. You may have calculated your expected rental yield using the rent your neighbour was getting two years ago.

Your tenant does not care. They are looking at what else they can rent today.

If another condo nearby has a similar-sized unit with newer fittings, better facilities or a more attractive rate, that becomes your competition.

Mortgage rates are no longer at the highs that many buyers experienced in 2022 and 2023.

Some current bank packages are priced off 3-month compounded SORA, with the final rate depending on the lender, package and borrower. Financing costs may be lower than the peaks seen in 2022 and 2023.

That can certainly help monthly cash flow. But cheaper financing does not automatically make the investment more profitable, especially if the achievable rent or occupancy is weaker than expected.

Suppose your mortgage payment falls by $300 a month after refinancing. If the rent you eventually secure is $300 lower than you expected, the benefit has effectively disappeared.

And rental income was never the same thing as rental yield in the first place.

Your rent has to be considered against the price you paid for the property, as well as interest, maintenance fees, property tax, vacancy periods, repairs and other costs.

A unit renting for $4,000 a month may sound attractive. But if you paid $1.6 million for it, that is only $48,000 a year in gross rent, or a 3% gross rental yield before expenses. Once you account for the costs of owning the property, the net return is lower.

Let's say you've collected the keys, furnished the place and finally put it up for rent. You tell your agent you're hoping for $4,100.

After some time, your agent calls to let you know they've found a tenant. But they're only offering $3,800, which is what similar units are charging.

At this point, you might feel inclined to wait for a different tenant. Surely someone will come along who is willing to pay the asking price.

However, if you leave the unit vacant for a month waiting for that extra $300, you've already forgone $3,800 in rent. At $300 more a month, you would need more than a year of higher rent just to make up for that one month of vacancy.

Of course, this doesn't mean you should immediately take the first offer that comes along. If there are plenty of tenants looking for units like yours, holding out could make sense.

The point is to look at the cost of waiting, not just the rent you want to get.

If you are holding a condo mainly for rental income, here are some questions you should ask yourself:

1. What rent can I realistically get in the current market?

Not what your neighbour got two years ago, or what you were hoping for when you bought. What are tenants actually willing to pay for a unit like yours now?

2. How long could it take to find a tenant?

A higher asking rent means little if the unit sits empty for weeks or months. Factor the potential vacancy into your calculations.

3. What happens to my cash flow if the unit stays vacant for a month or two?

Your mortgage, maintenance fees and other costs do not stop just because there is no tenant.

4. What is my actual return after all the costs?

Look beyond the monthly rent. Mortgage interest, maintenance fees, property tax, repairs and periods of vacancy all eat into your rental income.

5. If rents stay flat for the next few years, does this property still make sense?

If the answer is yes, you may have a property that still works for you even in a more competitive rental market.

If the answer is no, it may be time to take a closer look at the assumptions behind your investment.

Singapore's rental market is still holding up. URA's rental index rose 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2026 after a 0.3% increase in Q1. So the issue is not that rental demand has collapsed. The more relevant question for landlords is whether their particular unit can secure a tenant quickly and at a rate that still makes sense.

What has changed is the rental landscape you are stepping into.

The pressure is likely to be uneven. A newly completed project can already have many similar units competing for tenants, while the broader supply pipeline becomes more significant through 2027 and 2028. That makes it risky to assume either that your unit will achieve the rent you once expected or that today's competition already represents the peak.

Lower mortgage rates can help with your monthly cash flow, but they do not change that equation on their own. If your rent comes in lower than expected, or the unit sits vacant for a month or two, the difference can add up quickly.

So perhaps the focus should not be on whether or not buying a condo for rental income is a bad idea. Rather, you should consider whether your property still works as a rental investment at today's rents, costs and level of competition.

For owners collecting their keys in 2026, that may mean revisiting the assumptions they made when they bought.