$73 million could buy you:

• A luxury bungalow in Nassim Road
• A small office building in the CBD fringe
• Or six HDB shophouses with established tenants in Singapore’s busiest heartland hubs

Savills Singapore just dropped one of the more interesting commercial listings of 2025: a portfolio of six shophouses all in prime spots: directly connected to MRT stations, bus interchanges, and right beside footfall anchors like NTUC Fairprice.

Shophouses have seen more interest in recent years, mainly due to the 60 per cent Additional Buyers Stamp Duty (ABSD) on residential properties.

Commercial shophouses don't incur this added tax, which makes them increasingly attractive to some buyers. This could explain the confidence in such a high-quantum package, which is backed up by core locations such as Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, and Tanjong Pagar. 

Prime spots in Singapore's most resilient heartlands

The locations of the shophouses are developed, with long transaction and rental histories. In fact, some of these shophouses are already tenanted by businesses; this adds the kind of consistency and predictability that landlords prefer. 

Toa Payoh Lorong 6: A ground-floor unit spanning 1,033 sq ft, with sheltered access to Toa Payoh MRT Station and Bus Interchange. The property is already subdivided into three units and fully leased.

Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8: Two units (4,037 sq ft and 1,647 sq ft) spanning two levels with residential quarters above*. These shophouses sit within AMK Town Centre, right next to the Bus Interchange and AMK Hub.

*For shophouses with commercial and residential use, ABSD is typically charged only on the residential portion; but verify with the selling agent or URA for more specific details.

Tanjong Pagar Plaza: Three ground-floor units ranging from 603-764 sq ft, positioned right at the entrance and pedestrian drop-off point. This unit is beside the NTUC Fairprice. This doesn't just make for a good anchor tenant, it's also attractive to future tenants. 

(A supermarket naturally draws more people to the area, and it's assumed NTUC wouldn't have opened if they didn't already research the area. Spotting a business like NTUC or McDonald's is a "cheat code" to identify high traffic areas.)

The numbers behind the asking price

Let’s break it down by location:

What makes HDB shophouses different

According to Nick Chan from Savills, there are only about 8,500 privately held HDB shophouses in Singapore, making them "among the most tightly held commercial assets" here.

Besides scarcity, HDB shophouses typically benefit from the captive markets of HDB estates. Their locations near transit hubs and daily necessities providers like NTUC ensure consistent foot traffic, and this means very high rentability.

The upside potential

The shophouses have been marketed with an impressive claim of a four per cent rental yield. By comparison, the yield on a typical private non-landed residential property is about two to three per cent as of 2025. The rental performance may be due to:

1. Positive rental reversion as leases expire (i.e., new tenants might potentially pay more than the previous, as the earlier ones locked in lower rates)
2. Further subdivision of space to drive higher rental income
3. Potential future upside from ongoing rejuvenation plans 

The units can be acquired individually or as a complete portfolio, with the sale via private treaty.

The Bigger Picture

What's particularly interesting about this listing is its timing. As Singapore navigates economic headwinds, investors are increasingly prioritising defensive assets over speculative plays.

It can feel safer, for instance, to buy an asset and collect a predictable amount of rent, rather than count on high resale gains from luxury-area condos. 

An added benefit is that commercial tenants tend to be more "sticky." Residential tenants may be more willing to pack up and leave when rates rise; but businesses such as restaurants or shops could lose a chunk of their customer base by doing so. 

The question for some potential investors though, isn't just about the current four per cent yield; they need to look ahead and consider if escalating trade wars and economic uncertainty will affect their business tenants.

Even if those tenants are loathe to move, poor business can result in vacancies (e.g., the tenant closes the business), as well as static or declining rent. 

This article was first published in Stackedhomes.