Are rents still rising in Cartagena?

How fast are Cartagena rents actually rising?

Slowly. Cartagena apartment rents rose 1.5% in the twelve months to September 2026 according to the El Libertador-Davivienda rent index, against 6.5% for apartments nationally. House rents in Cartagena rose 7.7%.

Colombia's rental law still gives rents some 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 rise by as much as COP 153,000 in 2026.

Inflation has turned less friendly again. DANE put national inflation at 6.29% year over year in September 2026 (6.24% in August). Inside that, effective rents rose 5.12%, while building administration fees jumped 17.14%, a cost that tenants feel on top of the rent.

So the 1.5% figure is below both the legal cap and inflation. That suggests many Cartagena landlords are not getting the full increase, or are re-letting vacant units for less. Cartagena's official Observatorio Inmobiliario still uses its 2025 rental study (listings collected in October–November 2025) as its neighborhood benchmark, so the index is the best recent read we have.

Current pressure	What we know	Direction	What it suggests
Cartagena apartment rents (El Libertador-Davivienda)	+1.5% y/y (Sept 2026)	Up, barely	Below inflation: real rents falling
Cartagena house rents	+7.7% y/y	Up	Houses are scarcer and rising faster
Maximum increase on eligible existing leases	5.10% (2026)	Up	Landlords can ask for it, but many don't get it
National CPI	6.29% y/y (Sept 2026)	Up from 6.24% in August	Pushes next year's cap higher
Building administration fees (CPI)	+17.14% y/y	Sharply up	The total cost of renting rises faster than the rent

Is Cartagena still in a rental boom?

No. Cartagena still has expensive rents, but apartment rents rising 1.5% a year is the opposite of a boom.

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 2026 ceiling is 5.10%.

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 also lacks what usually causes a real rent downturn. Housing supply is constrained nationally, construction starts fell again in 2026, and the city still draws residents and tourists (5.85 million airport passengers in January–September 2026, +1.2%, according to El Universal).

Today's market looks like flat-to-slow rent growth after a boom, not the start of another one.

Lease-adjustment year	Maximum CPI-linked increase	Increase on COP 4m rent	Change in pressure
2023	13.12%	COP 524,800	Extremely high
2024	9.28%	COP 371,200	Still very high
2025	5.20%	COP 208,000	Much slower
2026	5.10%	COP 204,000	Persistent, not explosive

Why are Cartagena apartment rents rising slower than the rest of Colombia?

Because Cartagena has a lot of apartments competing for the same tenants. In the year to September 2026, apartment rents rose 1.5% in Cartagena, 3.1% in Barranquilla and 4.9% in Bogotá, against 6.5% nationally (El Libertador-Davivienda index).

The main reason is the tourist stock. Thousands of furnished apartments were bought for Airbnb, and when bookings are weak, owners put them on monthly or yearly leases. That adds supply exactly in the areas where expats and executives look for a flat: Bocagrande, El Laguito, Manga and the north.

Houses are different: Cartagena house rents rose 7.7%, probably because few new houses are built and families compete for them.

What to do with this: if you rent an apartment, ask for less than the 5.10% increase at renewal, especially in a building full of Airbnb units. If you are buying to rent out, base your numbers on today's rent, not on rent growth.

City (apartments)	Rent change, 12 months to Sept 2026
Colombia	+6.5%
Bogotá	+4.9%
Barranquilla	+3.1%
Cartagena	+1.5%
Cartagena houses (for comparison)	+7.7%

How expensive are long-term rents in Cartagena now?

The typical asking rent in Cartagena is about COP 3.6 million a month (about $1,150) in October 2026, building administration not included (Aptologia index). That is below Medellín (COP 4.5 million) but above Bogotá (COP 2.9 million).

Neighborhood medians tell you more. On current listings (Colombia Bound, October 2026), a two-bedroom asks about $1,450–$1,550 a month in Bocagrande, El Laguito, Manga, Crespo and La Boquilla, about $2,090 in Castillogrande, and under $1,000 in Serena del Mar.

The official 2025 Cartagena rental study shows a higher range because it measured average listings, often large ones. Across the eight neighborhoods in the table below, long-term asking rents averaged roughly COP 5.85 million per month. Bocagrande came in at around COP 10 million, but the average Bocagrande listing in that sample was 199 m²; El Laguito was closer to COP 3.9 million.

Those numbers should not be read as a citywide average. The study focused on areas with enough listings (about 30 per neighborhood), which means premium coastal neighborhoods are heavily represented.

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

Neighborhood	1-bed median asking rent	2-bed median asking rent
Castillogrande	$1,530 (COP 4.9 million)	$2,090 (COP 6.7 million)
Manga	$966 (COP 3.1 million)	$1,550 (COP 4.9 million)
Bocagrande	$1,290 (COP 4.1 million)	$1,510 (COP 4.8 million)
Crespo	$1,010 (COP 3.2 million)	$1,450 (COP 4.6 million)
El Laguito	$950 (COP 3 million)	$1,450 (COP 4.6 million)
La Boquilla	$1,120 (COP 3.6 million)	$1,450 (COP 4.6 million)
Serena del Mar	$805 (COP 2.6 million)	$966 (COP 3.1 million)

The official 2025 study, for comparison (average listing, not median):

Neighborhood in official 2025 study	Average monthly asking rent	Approx. rent/m²	Market position
Bocagrande	COP 10.01m	COP 58,422	Very expensive
Castillogrande	COP 6.70m	COP 43,921	Premium
La Boquilla / Cielo Mar	COP 6.14m	COP 54,597	Premium
Manga	COP 5.37m	COP 44,907	Upper-middle
El Cabrero	COP 5.10m	COP 47,276	Upper-middle
Crespo	COP 4.86m	COP 49,421	Upper-middle
Marbella	COP 4.74m	COP 44,394	Upper-middle
El Laguito	COP 3.91m	COP 39,591	Lowest in this sample

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 2025 study found average long-term asking rent of roughly COP 10.0 million in Bocagrande and COP 6.7 million in Castillogrande. Current listings reverse that order: a two-bedroom asks about $2,090 in Castillogrande against $1,510 in Bocagrande (Colombia Bound, October 2026). Castillogrande has more large family apartments, while Bocagrande has a broader mix of old, new, furnished and smaller units, many of them competing with Airbnb.

That variation is useful. The average Bocagrande listing in the 2025 study was 199 m², so a few luxury apartments can move an average quickly in a 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. A one-bedroom there asks about $1,010 a month (COP 3.2 million) and a two-bedroom about $1,450, well below Castillogrande. Manga also has a large residential market, with one-bedrooms around $966.

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 2025 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. The citywide split is already visible: house rents up 7.7% in a year, apartment rents up only 1.5%. 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?

Per square metre, yes. In monthly rent, not yet: new supply keeps northern rents in check.

Serena del Mar is the clearest example. The official 2025 study found an average long-term asking rent around COP 4.34 million there for an average property of about 88 m², roughly COP 51,500 per square metre, ahead of Castillogrande, Manga, Marbella and Crespo in the same dataset. But today's median two-bedroom asks only about $966 a month (COP 3.1 million), the lowest in our neighborhood table.

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, about 70% of Cartagena's non-VIS sales were in Zona Norte.

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.

Each new tower that is delivered in the north adds apartments looking for tenants at the same time. Expect high rent per square metre, but plenty of choice, so tenants there have room to negotiate.

Is Cartagena building enough housing to slow rents down?

Not citywide, but enough to keep apartment rents in check in the areas where new towers are delivered.

The national construction picture has weakened further. Camacol's figures to September 2026 show new-home sales down 11.9% year over year (118,844 units), launches down 18.1% and construction starts down 11.2%.

In Bolívar, the split is telling: subsidized VIS sales rose 26.6% in the first half of 2026 (2,452 units), while non-VIS sales, the kind of apartment expats and executives rent, fell 28.8% to 1,513 units.

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

The current construction cycle gives tenants little reason to expect a large supply-driven rent drop. Fewer launches now also mean fewer new apartments to rent in 2028–2029.

Colombia housing indicator	Jan–Sep 2026 change	Direction	Rental implication
New-home sales	-11.9% y/y	Down	Weak developer market
New launches	-18.1% y/y	Down	Less future supply entering the pipeline
Construction starts	-11.2% y/y	Down	Fewer completions in 2–3 years
Bolívar non-VIS sales (H1 2026)	-28.8% y/y	Down	Fewer new premium rentals later
Annual household formation	~370,000	Structural growth	Keeps pressure on housing demand

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

Less and less. Airbnb took apartments out of the long-term market in the tourist districts, but with nightly rates down 18% in a year, it now pushes some of them back.

Cartagena's official 2025 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. Short-rental listings are 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 better economics. AirDNA shows Cartagena's average nightly rate at $122, down 18% in a year, with occupancy at 53%. 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. Owning an Airbnb in a tourist neighborhood no longer guarantees strong bookings.

AirDNA counts 9,730 active Cartagena listings in the twelve months to September 2026, with average occupancy of 53% and an average nightly rate of $122 (about COP 389,000), down 18.0% in a year. AirDNA's listing count fell 39% over the year, but much of that drop reflects how AirDNA counts active listings, not a wave of owners leaving.

Average annual revenue per listing reached $21,800 (about COP 69.6 million). That average mixes studios and large villas, so a typical one- or two-bedroom apartment probably earns less.

Peak tourism can hide the weakness. Cartagena still fills fast over Christmas, New Year, Easter, major events and popular weekends, which makes the market feel permanently hot when you look at the busiest weeks.

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

This is the main reason to stop treating Cartagena's tourism numbers and Cartagena's Airbnb profits as the same thing.

Cartagena short-term rental measure (AirDNA, 12 months to Sept 2026)	Level	What it tells us
Active listings	9,730	Very large competing supply
Average occupancy	53%	Nearly half the nights go unbooked
Average nightly rate	$122 (-18.0% y/y)	Hosts cut prices to fill nights
Average annual revenue per listing	$21,800	Gross, before fees and costs

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

Yes, and the slow apartment rent figures suggest it is already happening. When nightly rates fall and occupancy sits around 53%, a normal tenant starts to look attractive.

Run the numbers with AirDNA's average. $21,800 a year in bookings becomes about $18,400 (COP 58.7 million) after Airbnb's 15.5% host fee, and the owner still pays cleaning, utilities, internet, furniture wear and often a manager taking a cut.

A two-bedroom in Bocagrande on a twelve-month lease asks about $1,510 a month, or $18,120 a year (COP 57.8 million), with the tenant paying utilities and far less work for the owner.

The tipping point differs by property. A sea-view apartment in Bocagrande that books well above the city average can still make more as a short stay. An average unit with average bookings usually does better with a tenant.

Every apartment that returns to a twelve-month lease adds supply and takes a little pressure off long-term rents, which is probably part of why Cartagena apartment rents rose only 1.5% in a year.

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 requires every unit rented for stays under 30 days to have its own Registro Nacional de Turismo (RNT), renewed every year between 1 January and 31 March, and shown on booking platforms. The building's rules (propiedad horizontal) must also allow tourist use, and changing them takes 70% of the ownership coefficients.

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 banning Airbnb. It does show that “other apartments in the area are doing it” is no longer enough protection for an owner. Nationally, a MinCIT draft decree on tourist housing was put out for comments in July 2026; if it is signed, it would only apply from 1 January 2028.

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. Before buying, ask the building administrator for the reglamento and check whether short stays are allowed.

Are Cartagena rents getting too expensive for local residents?

In the premium areas, yes. Cartagena's coastal rental market is far beyond ordinary local budgets, with a minimum wage of COP 1,750,905 a month in 2026.

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. COP 5 million to COP 10 million a month is normal for some properties in Bocagrande or Castillogrande, three to six minimum wages, so 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?

For existing leases, yes. Inflation is high enough to keep the legal cap up, even if Cartagena landlords don't always get it.

The 2026 cap is 5.10%, based on 2025 inflation. Inflation has picked up since: DANE measured 6.29% in September 2026, and the central bank raised its policy rate to 12.25% on 30 September to fight it.

The 2027 cap will be December 2026 inflation. Analysts expect around 6.8% (Portafolio, 7 October 2026) and one forecast is 7.1% (Bloomberg Línea). At 7.1%, a COP 4 million lease could rise by about COP 284,000 a month at its 2027 renewal.

For Cartagena landlords, higher inflation also raises maintenance, labor and building costs; administration fees are up 17.14% in a year nationally. Those costs feed into what owners ask from tenants.

Inflation alone will not set every new listing, particularly in buildings full of Airbnb units. It does make a broad fall in nominal long-term rents hard 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. AirDNA counts 9,730 active short-term listings, 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 the other way: launches fell 18.1% and starts 11.2% nationally in January–September 2026.

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 in pesos. In real terms, apartment rents are already slipping: +1.5% against 6.29% inflation. Individual buildings can certainly become cheaper, especially where owners compete aggressively for tenants, but that is different from Cartagena rents falling across the board.

Is the strong peso making Cartagena rent more expensive for foreigners?

Yes, and by more than any local rent increase. The dollar closed 2025 at about COP 3,757 and is worth about COP 3,190 today, so each dollar buys about 15% fewer pesos.

A Bocagrande two-bedroom at COP 4.8 million a month cost about $1,280 at the end-2025 rate. Today the same rent costs about $1,510, roughly 18% more, with zero change in the peso rent.

Forecasts disagree on what comes next (BBVA expects about COP 3,640 per dollar at end-2026, Bancolombia a 3,420 average for 2026), so don't sign a long lease betting on a rebound.

What to do: if your income is in dollars or euros, negotiate the rent in pesos, keep the term to twelve months, and push back on any “dollar rent” listing that hasn't been adjusted to today's rate.

Monthly rent in pesos	Cost at end-2025 rate (COP 3,757)	Cost today (COP 3,190)
COP 3.6 million (city median)	$958	$1,128
COP 4.8 million (Bocagrande 2-bed)	$1,283	$1,510
COP 6.7 million (Castillogrande 2-bed)	$1,783	$2,099

What does a long-term rental really earn in Cartagena after tax?

Less than the gross yield suggests. Global Property Guide puts Cartagena's gross long-term yield at 5.22% in Q3 2026, below Bogotá (7.67%) and Medellín (6.88%). Neighborhood listings give 5.9% in Bocagrande and 6.8% in Castillogrande and El Laguito (Colombia Bound, October 2026).

Take a two-bedroom in Bocagrande asking $344,000 (about COP 1.1 billion) and renting for $1,510 a month. That is $18,120 a year, a 5.3% gross yield.

Now remove one empty month, a 10% letting agent, building administration of, say, $250 a month (about COP 800,000) and about $1,000 a year for predial and insurance. You are left with about $10,950, or 3.2% before income tax.

A non-resident owner then pays 35% on Colombian net rental income. That leaves about $7,100 a year, roughly 2.1% net.

What to aim for: if you buy to rent long term, look for a gross yield of 6.5% or more (Castillogrande or El Laguito-type numbers), negotiate the price rather than counting on rent growth, and check the administración before you sign: it rose 17% in a year nationally.

Bocagrande 2-bed example	Per year
Asking rent ($1,510 × 12)	$18,120 (5.3% gross)
Minus one empty month	-$1,510
Minus letting agent (10% of rent collected)	-$1,661
Minus administración ($250/month, assumed)	-$3,000
Minus predial and insurance (assumed)	-$1,000
Net before income tax	$10,949 (3.2%)
Minus 35% non-resident tax	-$3,832
Net after tax	$7,117 (2.1%)

So, are rents still rising in Cartagena?

Yes, but slowly for apartments. Cartagena apartment rents rose 1.5% in the year to September 2026, below the 5.10% legal cap and well below 6.29% inflation; house rents rose 7.7%.

Existing leases can still rise by up to 5.10% at renewal, the 2027 cap will likely be above 6%, and Colombia's weak construction pipeline gives tenants little help from new supply. Castillogrande and Bocagrande remain the most expensive places to rent, and the north is expensive per square metre.

The strongest counterweight is the tourist stock. With 9,730 Airbnb listings, occupancy at 53% and nightly rates down 18%, many owners can no longer assume Airbnb beats a reliable annual tenant, and stricter rules push marginal units back to residents.

For tenants paying in pesos, that means room to negotiate. For foreigners paying in dollars, the stronger peso has made the same rent about 18% more expensive this year. For buyers, a long-term rental nets about 2% after tax in Bocagrande, so price matters more than rent growth.