Rangoon 88
Overview & Key Facts
Rangoon 88 is a 48-unit freehold condominium at 88 Rangoon Road in District 8, completed in 2014 and developed by Kay Lim Investment Pte Ltd — a boutique local developer for whom this project marked their first residential launch. The development sits within the culturally rich city-fringe corridor that bridges the Little India conservation district and the Farrer Park residential enclave, placing it in one of Singapore’s most characterful and walkable urban neighbourhoods. At five storeys with just 48 units, Rangoon 88 is unambiguously boutique — a sharp contrast to the mega-developments that dominate Singapore’s new-launch landscape.
The investment thesis here is unusually straightforward. At an average PSF of S$1,706 over the past 12 months, Rangoon 88 offers freehold D8 exposure at a meaningful discount to its leasehold RCR peers — PICCADILLY GRAND, a new 99-year launch in the same postal district, currently trades at S$2,164 psf. That is a 27% premium for leasehold versus freehold on comparable city-fringe soil. For yield-focused investors, the proposition sharpens further: 135 recorded rental transactions underpin a gross yield of 4.74% — among the highest we have reviewed for a freehold RCR asset — and median rent of S$2,900/month reflects steady demand from professionals, Little India business owners, and Mustafa Centre-adjacent workers who prize the walkable location above all else.
Kay Lim Investment, the developer behind Rangoon 88, is a subsidiary of the Kay Lim Group, a Singaporean construction conglomerate with decades of civil engineering and building contracts across the island. Developing a residential condo was a new venture for the group, and Rangoon 88 reflects that boutique ambition: a compact, mixed-use building with seven commercial units at ground floor and 48 residential units above. The mixed-use element — ground-floor retail fronting Rangoon Road — adds street-level activation and modest convenience to residents, while reinforcing the development’s urban, city-fringe character.
For investors seeking income returns rather than capital appreciation headlines, Rangoon 88 is a focused, low-maintenance play: freehold tenure, strong rental demand, proven PSF momentum (+23% over five years), and a location that will remain in demand as long as Little India and the Farrer Park corridor retain their density of workplaces, F&B, and cultural draw.
Location & Connectivity
The single most compelling locational attribute of Rangoon 88 is its proximity to Farrer Park MRT. At approximately 220 metres from the station entrance — a two-minute walk in any weather — this is one of the shortest MRT-to-gate distances among reviewed freehold RCR condos. Farrer Park station sits on the North-East Line (NE8), providing a single-interchange ride to Dhoby Ghaut (CC/NS/NE interchange) in under 10 minutes and to HarbourFront in roughly 20. For renters, this kind of door-to-MRT proximity is a non-negotiable draw, and it is the primary reason why Rangoon 88’s rental demand — 135 transactions at S$2,900 median — is as deep as it is for a development of only 48 units.
The immediate streetscape is Rangoon Road itself: a mid-width arterial running south from Race Course Road toward Serangoon Road, lined with pre-war shophouses, Indian restaurants, a handful of medical clinics, and small retail businesses. Within a five-minute walk, residents reach the Farrer Park Field sports complex and swimming pool, the Connexion medical hub at Farrer Park Hospital, and the southern fringe of Little India proper. Mustafa Centre — the 24-hour department store that functions as a de facto hypermarket, electronics retailer, and gold exchange all in one — is a 12-minute walk or a single bus stop via Serangoon Road. For residents who value 24-hour retail access and multicultural F&B at every price point, this part of D8 is hard to match.
Beyond the NE Line, secondary MRT access broadens the commute picture considerably. Bendemeer DT23 on the Downtown Line is 0.96 km away — a short bus ride or a brisk 12-minute walk — while Little India (NE/DT interchange at 1.04 km) and Jalan Besar (DT22 at 1.02 km) provide alternative routing toward the Botanic Gardens corridor and the western DTL spine. For drivers, the CTE is accessible within minutes via Serangoon Road, connecting to both the CBD and the northern expressway network. Orchard Road is reachable in approximately 10 minutes off-peak.
Schools & Education
2 primary schools within the 1 km Priority Phase balloting radius.
| School | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Farrer Park Primary School | primary | Within 1 km |
| CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace | primary | Within 1 km |
| LASALLE College of the Arts | tertiary | Within 1 km |
| St. Andrew's Secondary School | secondary | ~1.0 km |
| St. Andrew's Junior College | jc | ~1.0 km |
| St. Andrew's Junior School | primary | ~1.1 km |
| St. Margaret's Secondary School | secondary | ~1.1 km |
| St. Margaret's Primary School | primary | ~1.2 km |
Facilities
For a 48-unit boutique development, Rangoon 88 delivers the essentials without pretence. Facilities comprise a swimming pool, gymnasium, and BBQ area — a lean but functional offering that is honestly proportionate to a five-storey residential block rather than a resort-style mega-condo. The swimming pool serves as the social centrepiece of the development, with the compact footprint ensuring that facilities are rarely congested. Maintenance fees reflect the restrained amenity set and are accordingly more manageable than those at larger, facility-heavy developments in the RCR. Residents who have stayed at comparable boutique condos in the city fringe generally describe the trade-off in consistent terms: you forego the tennis courts and club lounges, and in exchange, you get a tightly managed building where the pool is always clean and the gym is never crowded.
The ground floor commercial units fronting Rangoon Road provide a degree of in-building convenience unusual for a development of this size. Depending on tenant mix at any given time, residents have access to retail and F&B at the foot of the building — a quality that becomes increasingly useful given that the surrounding streetscape on Rangoon Road is itself dense with medical, F&B, and services. For residents prioritising location and rental yield over five-star on-site amenities, this is the appropriate facilities calculus: lean, well-maintained, and complemented by an outstanding walkable neighbourhood.
“Amazing place to stay — just next to Farrer Park MRT station. Had a comfortable stay at this boutique apartment. Very convenient for everything.”
— Short-stay resident review via online listing platforms
Unit Sizes & Layout
Rangoon 88 offers three unit configurations across its 48 residences: Studio, 1-Bedroom, and 2-Bedroom — a mix deliberately oriented toward the rental market and city-fringe singles and couples rather than multi-generational families. Unit sizes range from approximately 420 sqft (1-bedroom) through to 1,399 sqft for larger 2-bedroom-plus-study configurations, with the core stock concentrated in the 420–786 sqft range. These are compact, city-fringe proportions — typical for a D8 development completed in 2014 — and layouts are designed for efficient use of space rather than generous living-room footprints. Floor plans reflect the era: functional, rectangular, with minimal wasted corridor space. The 2-bedroom-plus-study units at the upper end provide meaningful flexibility for home-office setups or occasional guest accommodation.
Finishings are mid-market and consistent with the development’s positioning as a yield-focused investment product. Buyers who have toured the units describe them as clean and functional, without the premium marble and smart-home integrations now standard in new CCR launches. A moderate renovation budget will bring kitchens and bathrooms to contemporary standard. The upper floors of the five-storey block benefit from reduced street noise from Rangoon Road — a relevant consideration given that ground-level and low-floor units face a moderately busy urban arterial. Units facing away from Rangoon Road offer a quieter aspect toward the adjacent shophouse roofscape.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 BR | 9 | $1,625 | $697,654 |
| 1 BR | 9 | $1,405 | $827,889 |
| 2 BR | 1 | $1,529 | $1,250,888 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 19 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $655,000 to $1,250,888, averaging $788,462 (~$1,706 psf).
Rents range from $1,800 to $4,700 per month across 139 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 4.7%.
Price Appreciation
From 2021 to 2026, the average PSF has appreciated by 7.8% (from $1,583 to $1,706 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
The most instructive comparison is with PICCADILLY GRAND (407 units, 99-year lease launched 2021, S$2,164 psf). Piccadilly Grand is a purpose-built new launch with extensive facilities, a larger unit count, and the marketing polish of a major developer — but it sits on leasehold land at a 27% PSF premium to Rangoon 88. For a buyer whose primary concern is yield and long-term tenure, paying a freehold premium that is, in this case, actually a discount to the leasehold alternative is a striking anomaly. The differential narrows on a like-for-like basis when adjusting for facilities, brand, and unit size, but the directional argument — freehold at lower PSF than 99-year — remains unusual and worth noting.
CITY SQUARE RESIDENCES (910 units, freehold, S$1,889 psf) is a more direct tenure-to-tenure comparison. At 910 units, City Square is a full-scale development with a broad amenity suite, higher liquidity, and brand recognition among tenants and buyers. It trades at approximately 11% premium to Rangoon 88 on PSF. For buyers prioritising liquidity and re-sale breadth, City Square’s larger pool of comparable transactions is a meaningful advantage. For income investors who prioritise yield over exit flexibility, Rangoon 88’s lower entry cost, higher yield (4.74% vs City Square’s estimated 3.8–4.1%), and Farrer Park MRT proximity at 220m versus City Square’s 400m-plus walk tips the balance. CITYLIGHTS (600 units, 99-year, S$1,759 psf) rounds out the comparison: leasehold, similar PSF to Rangoon 88 on a tenure-adjusted basis, with a larger scale and amenity set but an aging lease clock from 2004.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RANGOON 88 | Freehold | 2014 | 48 | $1,706 |
| PICCADILLY GRAND | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2021 | 2022 | 407 | $2,167 |
| CITYLIGHTS | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2004 | 2007 | 600 | $1,767 |
| CITY SQUARE RESIDENCES | Freehold | 2009 | 910 | $1,891 |
| STURDEE RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2015 | — | 305 | $1,999 |
| KERRISDALE | 99 yrs lease commencing from 1998 | 2006 | 481 | $1,395 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates RANGOON 88 across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“I have been renting here for two years. The walk to Farrer Park MRT is genuinely two minutes — I timed it. That alone justifies the rent for me. The neighbourhood has everything: hawker food, 24-hour Mustafa around the corner, clinics. I would not swap this location for a fancier building further from the train.”
— Long-term tenant, shared via local property forum
“Good investment choice. Yield is solid, tenant turnover is low, and the freehold status gives me peace of mind for the long term. The units are not huge and the facilities are basic, but that keeps maintenance fees low and tenants appreciate the MRT proximity over a fancy clubhouse.”
— Owner-investor, via EdgeProp community
“The street noise from Rangoon Road is noticeable on the lower floors facing the road. If you are a light sleeper, ask for an upper floor or rear-facing unit. Once you adjust, the neighbourhood energy — the smells from the Indian restaurants, the buzz around Mustafa — is actually what makes this place special. It is not a quiet suburban condo and it does not pretend to be.”
— Previous resident, via online property review platform
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Farrer Park MRT (NE8) at 220m — among the shortest MRT-to-gate distances for RCR freehold
- Freehold tenure at S$1,706 psf — 21-27% discount to leasehold peers PICCADILLY GRAND and STURDEE RESIDENCES
- Strong 4.74% gross yield backed by 135 rental transactions — deep and diversified tenant pool
- PSF momentum: +23% over 5 years (S$1,388 to S$1,706) — consistent upward re-rating
- Walkability 78/100 — hawker food, clinics, Mustafa Centre, F&B all within 10-minute walk
- Boutique 48-unit scale: pool rarely crowded, gym always available, low vacancy historically
- No lease decay drag — freehold ownership passes intact to future buyers
- Mixed-use ground-floor commercial adds in-building retail/F&B convenience
- Farrer Park Primary School at 260m — strong for P1 balloting priority
- Multiple MRT lines reachable: NE Line direct, DTL via Bendemeer/Little India/Jalan Besar within 1km
- Facilities are lean (pool, gym, BBQ only) — no tennis, clubhouse, or resort amenities
- Street noise from Rangoon Road affects lower-floor and road-facing units
- Small 48-unit pool — low liquidity means fewer comparable transactions, wider bid-ask spreads
- Investment score 53/100 and Profitability 49/100 — D8 is a yield market, not a capital appreciation story
- Unit sizes are compact (420–1,399 sqft) — not suited to families seeking 3BR-plus space
- Mid-market finishings — budget for kitchen/bathroom upgrades to meet contemporary rental expectations
- No resident carpark abundance — boutique scale limits on-site parking allocation
- Rangoon Road character (24-hour activity, Mustafa-adjacent buzz) may not suit buyers seeking suburban quiet
Verdict
Rangoon 88 is, above all, an income investor’s condo. The 4.74% gross yield — supported by 135 recorded rental transactions and a median rent of S$2,900 — is among the strongest figures we have reviewed for a freehold RCR asset, and the demand drivers are structural rather than cyclical: Farrer Park MRT at 220 metres, a 24-hour lifestyle corridor stretching to Mustafa Centre and Little India, and a supply-constrained boutique format that keeps vacancy low. For an investor running yield calculations, the numbers are compelling: freehold tenure means no lease decay drag on future valuation, the tenant pool is deep and diversified, and the PSF trajectory — S$1,388 to S$1,706 over five years, a 23% uplift — shows that the market has been consistently re-rating this pocket of D8 upward.
The freehold-versus-leasehold value argument is, in the current market, unusually strong at Rangoon 88. PICCADILLY GRAND, the marquee new launch in the same district, trades at S$2,164 psf on a 99-year lease launched in 2021. STURDEE RESIDENCES, another 99-year RCR project 250 metres away, transacts at approximately S$1,999 psf. Rangoon 88’s S$1,706 psf average represents a 21–27% discount to these leasehold peers — an inversion of the typical market logic where freehold commands a premium. The explanation lies primarily in age (2014 TOP), boutique scale (48 units, low liquidity), and facilities positioning. For buyers who understand these factors and are buying for income rather than a three-year flip, the discount is a feature rather than a bug.
Where Rangoon 88 is less compelling is capital appreciation. The Investment score of 53/100 and Profitability score of 49/100 reflect D8’s historical positioning: it is a yield market, not a capital gains story. The neighbourhood has genuine character and enduring rental demand, but it does not carry the prestige premium of Orchard or the speculative upside of Marina Bay-adjacent RCR. Buyers seeking 15-year capital compounding at CCR rates should look elsewhere. Buyers seeking a freehold city-fringe asset generating 4.74% yield with a proven rental track record and meaningful PSF discount to new leasehold peers have found one of the more quietly efficient income plays in Singapore’s 2026 resale market.