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Are rents still rising in Cartagena?

Are rents in Cartagena still going up today?

Yes. Cartagena rents are still going up overall, although the evidence is much stronger for continued increases than for another sharp acceleration.

Colombia’s rental system gives rents considerable upward momentum. Existing urban residential leases can normally be adjusted once every twelve months, with the increase capped by the previous calendar year’s inflation. Since Colombia ended 2025 with 5.10% inflation, an eligible COP 3 million monthly lease can currently rise by as much as COP 153,000.

The broader inflation backdrop has also turned less friendly again. DANE’s latest consumer-price release showed national inflation running at 6.03% year over year, up from 4.90% a year earlier. Housing, utilities and related costs rose 0.55% in that single month, making them one of the biggest contributors to the increase.

Cartagena does not have a clean official monthly rent index that lets us say rents rose exactly X% this year. The city’s official Observatorio Inmobiliario still uses its detailed 2025 rental study as the main neighborhood benchmark, although its property maps and market tools have continued to be updated this year. So we should be precise about the conclusion: the evidence says Cartagena rents are still climbing, but it does not support pretending that we know the exact citywide growth rate.

Is Cartagena still in a rental boom?

Not really. Cartagena still has rising and expensive rents, but calling the current market a rental boom would overstate what the latest evidence shows.

The boom-like conditions of the earlier inflation shock were easier to identify because Colombian rents were being mechanically repriced after very high national inflation. The annual legal adjustment ceiling reached 13.12% in 2023 and 9.28% in 2024. The current 5.10% ceiling is much lower.

That change is substantial. A COP 4 million lease receiving a 13.12% adjustment rises by COP 524,800 per month. At 5.10%, the increase is COP 204,000. Both hurt a tenant, but they describe very different markets.

Cartagena still lacks the ingredients we would normally associate with a rental downturn. Housing supply remains constrained nationally, construction starts weakened again in the first half of this year, and Cartagena continues to attract both residential and tourism demand.

Today’s market looks more like persistent rent growth after a boom than the beginning of another explosive leg upward.

How expensive are long-term rents in Cartagena now?

Long-term rents in Cartagena range from fairly ordinary Colombian-city prices to more than COP 10 million a month, depending on where and what we are measuring.

The official Cartagena rental study shows just how wide that gap is. Across eight well-covered neighborhoods, long-term asking rents averaged roughly COP 5.85 million per month. Bocagrande came in at around COP 10 million in that sample, while El Laguito was closer to COP 3.9 million.

Those numbers should not be read as a citywide average. The study deliberately focused on areas where enough reliable listing information was available, which means premium coastal neighborhoods are heavily represented.

Current property portals tell the same basic story. Castillogrande regularly carries family apartments at several million pesos per month, Bocagrande has a very deep furnished and luxury market, while Crespo can still offer smaller apartments closer to COP 2 million.

The practical range in Cartagena is enormous. Asking whether “Cartagena rent” is COP 3 million or COP 8 million makes little sense until we know the neighborhood, size, furnishing and building quality.

Are Bocagrande and Castillogrande rents still pulling Cartagena upward?

Yes. Bocagrande and Castillogrande remain expensive enough to keep Cartagena’s premium rental market far above the Colombian norm, even though we cannot prove that either neighborhood is currently accelerating.

The official study found average long-term asking rent of roughly COP 10.0 million in Bocagrande and COP 6.7 million in Castillogrande. Current listing portals often reverse that order because Castillogrande contains a higher share of very large family apartments, while Bocagrande has a broader mix of old, new, furnished and smaller units.

That variation is useful. A few 180-250 m² luxury apartments can move an average quickly in a relatively small market.

What has not changed is the hierarchy. These two neighborhoods remain among the most expensive places to rent in Cartagena, particularly for modern apartments with sea views, pools, security and parking. Their high prices still lift perceptions of Cartagena as a whole, even though most residents do not pay anything close to these rents.

Are rents rising everywhere in Cartagena?

No. Cartagena’s rent story is much more local than the citywide headlines suggest.

Crespo is a good example. Current listing inventory still includes smaller apartments around COP 2 million, and the neighborhood generally sits well below Castillogrande or the top end of Bocagrande. Manga also has a large residential market where prices can be substantially lower than waterfront luxury stock.

Then there is the northern corridor. Cielo Mar, La Boquilla and Serena del Mar increasingly compete for tenants willing to pay for new buildings, security, pools, hospitals and planned communities. The official rental study put Serena del Mar at roughly COP 51,500 per square metre, higher than several older central neighborhoods.

That creates several rental markets inside the same city. A new two-bedroom apartment near Serena del Mar can rise for reasons that have little to do with a modest apartment in Manga. Likewise, an Airbnb-heavy tower in El Laguito can behave very differently from a family building in Crespo.

For anyone asking whether Cartagena rents are rising, the neighborhood is now almost as important as the city.

Is northern Cartagena becoming the next expensive rental area?

Yes. Northern Cartagena is already developing into a second premium rental cluster rather than remaining a cheaper alternative to Bocagrande.

Serena del Mar is the clearest example. The official rental study found an average long-term asking rent around COP 4.34 million there, but the average property was only about 88 m². That worked out to roughly COP 51,500 per square metre, ahead of Castillogrande, Manga, Marbella and Crespo in the same dataset.

New development reinforces the trend. Camacol Bolívar has repeatedly identified the northern corridor, including Serena del Mar, Cielo Mar, La Boquilla and Punta Canoa, as the center of Cartagena’s non-subsidized housing activity. During 2025, roughly three quarters of the area’s Non-VIS sales were concentrated in the north.

That is changing the geography of expensive renting. Bocagrande still has the beach-and-tourism premium, while the north increasingly sells newer construction, larger developments and planned-community living.

Some of Cartagena’s strongest rent growth over the next few years is likely to show up in specific northern projects rather than uniformly across the old coastal core.

Is Cartagena building enough housing to slow rents down?

No. Cartagena is adding housing, but there is no convincing evidence of an oversupply big enough to push rents broadly lower.

The national construction picture has actually weakened lately. Camacol reported that new-home sales fell 9.9% year over year during the first half of this year, while launches declined 15.8% and construction starts fell 19.6%.

The longer trend is even more revealing. Colombia ended 2025 with 115,687 housing starts, down 17.4% from the previous year, marking 33 consecutive months of declines at that point.

Cartagena has pockets of active development, especially in the north, yet a new tower launched today does not immediately become available rental housing. Projects have to sell, get financed, be built and finally delivered.

Meanwhile, Colombia continues creating hundreds of thousands of new households each year. Camacol estimates around 370,000 annually. That helps explain why rents can keep edging higher even when housing sales themselves look weak.

The current construction cycle gives tenants little reason to expect a large supply-driven rent correction soon.

Is Airbnb still pushing Cartagena’s long-term rents higher?

Yes in the tourist districts, although Airbnb is probably exerting less one-way pressure on Cartagena rents than it did when short-term rentals looked like easy money.

Cartagena’s official rental analysis explicitly identifies short stays as a force that removes apartments from the conventional housing market and can raise average rents in affected areas.

The geography supports that argument. Historical short-rental data were heavily concentrated in Bocagrande, El Laguito, La Boquilla, Centro and Getsemaní. Those are precisely the places where an owner can realistically choose between a resident paying monthly rent and tourists paying by the night.

That choice matters because even a small conversion rate becomes meaningful when thousands of apartments are involved. A building with 200 units does not need to become entirely tourist-oriented before permanent residents notice fewer annual leases and higher asking prices.

Still, Airbnb no longer guarantees superior economics. Cartagena now has a very large supply of tourist apartments, and average occupancy can be mediocre outside busy periods. Owners who cannot keep enough nights booked have a strong reason to reconsider long-term tenants.

Airbnb continues to tighten residential supply in the most exposed neighborhoods, but the effect now has a natural brake: too many Airbnbs competing with one another.

Has Cartagena become oversupplied with Airbnbs?

In parts of the city, yes. Cartagena now has enough short-term rental supply that simply owning an Airbnb in a tourist neighborhood no longer guarantees strong occupancy.

Corpoturismo’s detailed tourism analysis counted roughly 8,800 active short-stay units in Cartagena. The same work estimated average occupancy around 30%, far below hotel occupancy, which was generally around the high-60% range during the comparable period.

That gap is hard to ignore. Hotels and apartments serve somewhat different customers, so their occupancy rates will never match perfectly, but a 30% average means a typical short-term unit is empty roughly seven nights out of ten.

Peak tourism can hide that weakness. Cartagena still fills rapidly over Christmas, New Year, Easter, major events and popular weekends. Strong holiday demand makes the market feel permanently hot when viewed from the busiest weeks.

Annual economics are less forgiving. A property that rents beautifully for ten days over a holiday period can still have a mediocre year if hundreds of similar apartments compete for guests during the remaining months.

This is probably the biggest reason to stop treating Cartagena’s tourism boom and Cartagena’s Airbnb profitability as the same thing.

Could weak Airbnb returns push more apartments back into long-term rentals?

Yes. If Cartagena’s short-term occupancy stays around current levels, some owners will inevitably find a normal tenant more attractive.

The official rental observatory estimated average tourist asking rates close to COP 497,000 per night across the neighborhoods it studied. At first glance, that makes annual leasing look irrational.

Occupancy changes the calculation quickly. At 30% occupancy, COP 497,000 per available night produces roughly COP 54 million in annual gross booking revenue. From there the owner still has to absorb cleaning, utilities, platform commissions, furnishing, management, maintenance and periods when the apartment is empty.

A conventional tenant generates less gross revenue but can pay every month with far fewer operating costs and much less work.

The tipping point differs by property. A sea-view apartment in Bocagrande that consistently fills 50% of nights can remain very attractive as a short stay. An average unit struggling around 20%-30% occupancy faces a much harder choice.

As seen above, Cartagena now has enough tourist inventory for that decision to become common. Every apartment that returns to a twelve-month lease adds supply and takes a little pressure off long-term rents.

Are Cartagena’s short-term rental rules becoming a real problem for owners?

Yes. Owners now have to take Cartagena’s short-term rental rules seriously, especially in residential buildings and the Historic Center.

Colombia already requires tourist accommodation operators to hold a valid Registro Nacional de Turismo and display that registration on booking platforms.

Cartagena has gone further by enforcing building and land-use restrictions. The district ordered unauthorized short stays to stop in apartments at the Santo Domingo II building in the Historic Center after finding that the property was approved for residential use and its rules did not allow tourist accommodation.

That case does not mean Cartagena is about to ban Airbnb. It does show that “other apartments in the area are doing it” is no longer enough protection for an owner.

For the long-term market, tighter enforcement could actually increase supply. Apartments that cannot legally or practically operate as tourist rentals have to be sold, left empty or rented to residents. The third option is usually the easiest.

Are Cartagena rents getting too expensive for local residents?

Yes. Cartagena’s premium rental market has pulled so far away from ordinary Colombian household budgets that affordability is now part of the rent story, not a side issue.

Housing already takes a large share of Colombian household spending. DANE’s consumer basket gives effective rent a weight above 10% across all households, with a much heavier burden among poorer households.

Now compare that with Cartagena’s coastal market. Asking COP 5 million, COP 7 million or COP 10 million per month may be perfectly normal for certain properties in Bocagrande or Castillogrande, but those rents target affluent Colombians, executives, foreigners and high-income households.

Most local renters operate in a very different market. They respond to rising rents by moving farther from the coast, choosing smaller apartments, sharing housing or accepting older buildings.

That creates an important ceiling. Landlords can ask whatever they want, but local incomes eventually determine how much rent the conventional market can absorb. Cartagena can therefore remain very expensive in its premium districts without every neighborhood following at the same speed.

Will inflation keep pushing Cartagena rents higher?

Probably. Inflation is still strong enough to keep upward pressure on Cartagena rents, particularly for tenants renewing existing contracts.

The current legal adjustment ceiling is 5.10%, based on last year’s inflation. More importantly, inflation has picked up again rather than disappearing. DANE’s latest reading put national annual inflation at 6.03%, compared with 4.90% one year earlier.

We do not yet know what the final full-year inflation figure will be, so it would be premature to say what next year’s maximum residential adjustment will be. But today’s inflation path makes another meaningful increase entirely plausible.

For Cartagena landlords, higher inflation also raises maintenance, administration, labor and building-service costs. Those expenses eventually feed into what owners are willing to accept from tenants.

Inflation alone will not determine every new listing, particularly in saturated Airbnb buildings. It does, however, make a broad fall in nominal long-term rents harder to imagine.

What would actually make Cartagena rents fall?

Cartagena rents would probably need a genuine supply shock or a meaningful drop in demand before we saw a broad decline.

The most realistic source of extra supply would be short-term rentals moving back into annual leases. Thousands of tourist apartments already exist, so even a modest conversion would affect neighborhoods such as Bocagrande, El Laguito, Marbella and La Boquilla faster than waiting for new buildings to be completed.

A construction boom could eventually do the same, particularly in northern Cartagena. Current housing data point in the opposite direction: starts and launches have recently been falling nationally rather than exploding.

Demand would also have to weaken. A serious tourism slump could change owner expectations in the coastal districts, while weaker employment or household income could force landlords elsewhere to accept less.

None of those forces currently looks large enough to produce a citywide rental drop. Individual buildings can certainly become cheaper, especially where owners compete aggressively for tenants, but that is different from Cartagena rents falling across the board.

So, are rents still rising in Cartagena?

Yes. Cartagena rents are still rising overall, but today’s market looks much more like steady upward pressure than another citywide rental surge.

Existing residential leases can currently increase by as much as 5.10% when they become eligible, national inflation is running above 6%, and Colombia’s weak construction pipeline gives tenants little help from new supply. Premium Cartagena neighborhoods remain expensive, while newer areas in the north are creating another cluster of high rents.

The strongest counterweight comes from tourist rentals. Cartagena has built a huge short-stay inventory, and mediocre average occupancy means some owners can no longer assume Airbnb will beat a reliable annual tenant. Tighter enforcement adds another reason for marginal properties to return to conventional renting.

We therefore expect Cartagena long-term rents to keep moving higher for now, but the increases should be much less uniform than during the inflation shock. Premium buildings with scarce supply can still push rents noticeably higher. Airbnb-heavy buildings with too many competing units may barely move or even become cheaper.

So the title is mostly true: rents are still rising in Cartagena, but the easy, across-the-board boom is over. The next phase will be decided building by building and neighborhood by neighborhood.

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