Rest-of-Central-Region Condos: Area Guide (2026)

The Rest of Central Region (RCR) is a statistical label that URA uses, not a neighbourhood. It covers most of the city-fringe estates between the CBD and the suburbs. The 2018 version of this guide compared three RCR condos with prices and stamp duties that no longer apply, so this guide explains the segment with current data instead.

At a glance

• URA defines the Core Central Region (CCR) as postal districts 9, 10 and 11, the Downtown Core and Sentosa. RCR is the rest of the Central Region.
• RCR prices moved +0.8%, −1.2% and +0.2% in Q1, Q2 and the Q3 2026 flash estimate. That is about −0.2% overall, against about +2.3% for CCR and +4.3% for OCR.
• RCR had 4,380 unsold units in uncompleted projects at end-Q2 2026, the lowest of the three segments.
• The median 4-room HDB resale in Central Region towns ranged from S$645,000 to S$1.03m (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), against S$630,000 islandwide.

What the RCR covers

URA’s release notes say the CCR comprises postal districts 9, 10 and 11, the Downtown Core planning area and Sentosa. The RCR is the area in the Central Region outside those places. URA publishes a map of the boundary.

URA’s Master Plan 2019 boundary data list 22 planning areas in the Central Region. Adding up SingStat’s 2025 counts, about 975,000 residents live there, roughly 23% of Singapore’s 4.20 million residents (Propwise calculation). Queenstown, Bishan, Geylang, Toa Payoh, Kallang, Bukit Merah and Marine Parade are mostly RCR. The line follows postal districts, so a project in a planning area such as Novena or Bukit Timah can be CCR or RCR. Always check the district. Our guide to districts and planning areas explains how.

How the three segments compare in 2026

	CCR	RCR	OCR
Price change Q1 / Q2 / Q3 flash	+0.6% / +1.8% / −0.1%	+0.8% / −1.2% / +0.2%	+2.2% / −0.1% / +2.2%
Compounded, three quarters	about +2.3%	about −0.2%	about +4.3%
Unsold units, uncompleted projects (end-Q2)	5,428	4,380	5,121
Rent index change, Q2	+1.2%	0.0%	−0.3%
Vacancy rate, Q2	8.3%	6.1%	5.6%

Sources: URA releases for Q2 and the Q3 flash estimate. The compounding is our arithmetic, and flash estimates can be revised.

The neighbourhoods behind the label

The RCR is not one market. The three estate guides below show how far apart the numbers are.

• Queenstown: East-West and Circle lines, with the highest HDB 4-room median of the group.
• Bishan: North-South, Circle and Thomson-East Coast lines, with a town centre to be rejuvenated.
• Geylang: older flats, three MRT lines and one of the lowest 4-room medians.

By contrast, Robertson Quay sits in postal district 9, so it is CCR.

The HDB resale table is a Propwise calculation from the HDB resale dataset and HDB rental dataset, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 (resales by registration month, rents by approval month). It shows eight Central Region HDB towns. School counts come from MOE’s directory, whose zones do not match HDB towns exactly.

HDB town	4-room resales	Median price	Median 4-room rent	MOE schools in zone
Queenstown	299	S$1,028,000	S$4,150	9
Toa Payoh	401	S$1,000,000	S$3,700	15
Bukit Merah	387	S$935,000	S$3,900	11
Kallang/Whampoa	297	S$905,000	S$3,800	6
Central Area	75	S$870,000	no data	n/a
Bishan	191	S$788,000	S$3,650	9
Geylang	228	S$740,000	S$3,600	8
Marine Parade	37	S$645,000	S$3,500	7
Islandwide	10,813	S$630,000	S$3,300	—

Propwise calculation, data.gov.sg, Oct 2025–Sep 2026.

Marine Parade has few resales, so treat its median with care.

What developers are paying

Land bids tell you what the next launches will cost, before construction and profit. Each figure is the winning bid per sqm of gross floor area (GFA).

Site (URA award date)	Segment	Winning bid	Bids
River Valley Green Parcel C (23 Jun 2026)	CCR	S$18,621.77	4
Lorong Puntong / Sin Ming Avenue (18 Sep 2026)	RCR (Bishan)	S$17,350.26	7
Dover Drive (31 Mar 2026)	RCR (Queenstown)	S$16,750.94	6

The CCR site sold about 11% above the Dover Drive site. Land is only one input, and the sites differ in size and layout.

What is coming

URA’s 2H2026 land programme brings the 2026 Confirmed List to 9,320 units, over 50% above the 10-year average. About 25,900 private and EC units are due to complete by 2028 (URA Annex E-3). More supply can cap price gains.

Master Plan 2025 plans new neighbourhoods at Pearl’s Hill, Paterson, Newton and Dover-Medway, and a rejuvenated Bishan town centre. Paya Lebar Air Base will move from the 2030s, freeing about 800 ha in the east. LTA opened the Circle Line 6 extension (Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward Road) on 12 July 2026, closing the loop.

Who it suits, and a checklist

RCR may suit buyers who want a city-fringe location and can accept a smaller choice of new launches near each other than in the suburbs. If you own an HDB flat, a condo counts as a second property for ABSD. A citizen pays 20%, refundable for married couples who sell the first home in time. Run the loan in the mortgage calculator.

1. Check the postal district and the URA segment.
2. Read URA’s recent sales for the project, not asking prices.
3. Check the lease. See valuing leasehold property.
4. Compare the rent and vacancy trend, not only the price trend.
5. Measure the walk to the MRT station.

Bottom line

RCR is a price label with very different estates inside it. In 2026 its prices are flat while OCR and CCR gained, and its unsold stock is the lowest of the three. Judge the estate and the project, not the label.

Sources

• 2nd Quarter 2026 real estate statistics, Annexes A-1, B, E-3 (24 Jul 2026); Q3 2026 flash estimate (1 Oct 2026) — URA
• Map of Central Region showing CCR and RCR — URA REALIS
• General Household Survey 2025: population by planning area — SingStat, 30 Jun 2026
• Resale flat prices; Renting out of flats; MOE school directory — data.gov.sg, checked 2 Oct 2026 (Propwise calculations)
• Tender awards (Dover Drive, River Valley Green, Lorong Puntong) — URA, 2026
• 2H2026 GLS programme (3 Jun 2026); Draft Master Plan 2025 (25 Jun 2025) — URA
• Circle Line 6 — LTA, checked Oct 2026
• ABSD and ABSD remission for married couples — IRAS, checked Oct 2026