Yield

Investments

Yield is the earnings generated from an investment over a period, expressed as a percentage of the investment's cost or current market value. Different instruments have different yield measures: dividend yield for stocks, current yield and YTM for bonds, and rental yield for real estate.

In detail

Types of yield:
Dividend yield: annual dividend / current share price x 100. A stock paying Rs 20/year dividend at Rs 400 price = 5% dividend yield.
Current yield (bonds): annual coupon / current bond price x 100.
Yield to maturity (YTM): total return if bond is held to maturity -- includes interest payments + capital gain/loss from price vs face value.
Rental yield: annual rent / property value x 100. A Rs 50L property generating Rs 20,000/month rent = Rs 2.4L/year = 4.8% yield.

Formula

Dividend yield = Annual dividend per share / Current market price x 100 Current yield (bond) = Annual coupon / Current price x 100 YTM (approximate) = [Coupon + (Face value - Price)/Years] / [(Face value + Price)/2] x 100 Rental yield = (Annual rent / Property value) x 100

Real-life example

🇮🇳 India example

Mumbai residential property purchased for Rs 1.5 Cr generates Rs 30,000/month rent = Rs 3.6L/year. Rental yield = 3.6/150 x 100 = 2.4%. Compare with FD at 7% or SGB at 8.2% + gold appreciation. Low rental yield in Indian metro real estate is the key argument for investing in financial assets alongside or instead of property.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good rental yield in Indian cities?
Tier-1 cities (Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore): typically 1.5-3% rental yield. Tier-2 cities (Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai): 2.5-4%. Small cities: 4-6%. After maintenance, property tax, and vacancy periods, net rental yield is often 1-2% lower than gross. This is why many investors prefer financial assets for returns while real estate provides lifestyle or inflation hedge benefits.