Are rents still rising in Honduras?

What a studio, 1-bed or 2-bed actually rents for, city by city

What's the average monthly rent for a studio in Honduras?

There is no trustworthy national average for studios, so here is what the listings say. On 22 October 2026, furnished studios of about 31 to 32 m² in Torre Artemisa Sur and in Cipreses (San Ignacio), Tegucigalpa, asked $750 (about L 20,100) a month on Encuentra24, with internet, cable and a washer-dryer included.

At the very bottom, a 12 m² studio in Bustillo Palma, Distrito Central, asked L 3,900 (about $145), which is closer to a room than an apartment.

La Prensa reported that even the smallest apartments near business areas and universities rent for more than L 8,000 to L 10,000 a month (about $300 to $370), and that is a good floor for a decent unfurnished studio in the capital or San Pedro Sula.

What's the average monthly rent for a 1-bedroom?

Numbeo's crowdsourced data (July 2026, a small sample of six contributors per city) puts a 1-bedroom at about L 12,100 (about $450) in central Tegucigalpa and L 12,550 (about $470) outside the center.

In San Pedro Sula, the same source shows L 15,000 (about $560) in the center and L 11,250 (about $420) outside it. A real 45 m² 1-bedroom in Los Álamos asked L 12,000 (about $445) in October 2026, which matches.

Furnished 1-bedrooms in new towers cost far more: $850 (about L 22,800) for 67 m² in Lomas del Mayab, $1,000 (about L 26,800) in Urbana Lara, and $1,300 (about L 34,900) for 45 m² in Nivo, all asked on Encuentra24 in October 2026.

On Roatán, long-lease 1-bedrooms run $350 to $700 a month in West End and $500 to $650 in Sandy Bay, according to GoPro Caribbean (May 2026).

What's the average monthly rent for a 2-bedroom?

Again, no reliable national figure exists. In Tegucigalpa, standard 2-bedrooms in gated middle-class areas ask L 14,000 to L 18,000 (about $520 to $670): L 14,000 in El Trapiche, L 15,500 in Loarque and L 18,000 for 110 m² in Roble Oeste (Encuentra24, September and October 2026).

Furnished 2-bedrooms in the better districts ask $800 to $1,400 (about L 21,500 to L 37,600): $800 in Florencia, $1,000 for 80 m² in Lomas del Guijarro, $1,350 in Lomas del Mayab and $1,400 for 150 m² in Palmira.

In San Pedro Sula, 2-bedrooms ask L 12,500 (about $465) in Barandillas, L 15,000 (about $560) in Los Álamos with water, internet and security included, $700 in Colonia Tara, $800 in Colonia Moderna and $850 furnished in Río de Piedras.

On Roatán, GoPro Caribbean reports $700 to $1,200 a month for a West End 2-bedroom and $600 to $1,000 in Sandy Bay (May 2026).

What's the average rent per square meter?

Across 20 Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula listings that state a size (June to October 2026), the median asking rent is about $11 per m² a month, or about L 296.

Most units sit between $9 and $14 per m². Bigger, older or unfurnished apartments drop to $6 to $7.50 per m² (110 m² in Roble Oeste works out at about $6), while small furnished studios and 1-bedrooms in new towers reach $23 to $29 per m².

That last point matters if you buy to rent: small furnished units earn far more per m², but they also rely on a narrow pool of expat and corporate tenants.

Rent per m² goes up with 24/7 security, parking, air conditioning, backup power, water storage and furniture, in that rough order of what tenants ask about first.

How much have rents changed year-over-year?

Honduras has no rent index, so anyone quoting a precise national rent increase is guessing. Our research found no reliable 12-month rent change for the country, Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula or Roatán.

What we do know: consumer inflation reached 6.28% over the year to September 2026 (BCH), and La Prensa notes many rents are billed in dollars. The lempira slid from about 26.37 to about 26.89 per dollar between January and early October 2026, so a dollar rent cost tenants about 2% more in lempiras with no increase at all.

Rental demand has been growing: the rent office (DAI) recorded more than 20% more registered rental contracts in 2024 than in 2023.

What's the outlook for rent growth?

The pressure points upward. The BCH raised its policy rate from 5.75% to 6.00% in September 2026 to fight inflation, and a bank mortgage costs around 13% in lempiras (Ficohsa, June 2026), so more households will keep renting instead of buying.

Expect owners of dollar-priced units in secure towers to hold or push rents, while older lempira-priced units follow inflation slowly because the law makes increases harder to impose (see below).

The main risks are weak household income, a wave of new towers in Tegucigalpa competing for the same expat tenants, and on Roatán a sales market that has slowed sharply in 2026.

Which neighborhoods rent best in Honduras?

Which neighborhoods have the highest rents?

In Tegucigalpa, the top asks we found on 22 October 2026 were in Lomas del Guijarro, Colonia Lara and Nivo: $2,400 (about L 64,400) for a 172 m² 3-bedroom in Torre Ámbar, $2,500 for a furnished 3-bedroom in Nivo, and $2,600 for a furnished 2-bedroom of 136 m² near Boulevard Juan Pablo II.

On Roatán, West End and West Bay lead. West Bay long-lease rents are not reliably published, but its short-term rentals average L 9,127 a night (about $340), roughly double West End's L 4,511 (AirROI, October 2025 to September 2026).

Tenants pay these premiums for security, parking, backup power and water, furniture, and in Roatán for the beach.

Where do young professionals prefer to rent in Honduras right now?

In Tegucigalpa, young professionals look at Lomas del Mayab, Colonia Lara, San Ignacio and Palmira for furnished 1-bedrooms at $750 to $1,000 (about L 20,100 to L 26,800), and at gated areas such as El Trapiche or Loarque for unfurnished 2-bedrooms at L 14,000 to L 15,500.

In San Pedro Sula, Los Álamos and Río de Piedras are the usual picks, with 1-bedrooms around L 12,000 (about $445).

They choose these areas for safe buildings, short commutes to offices and malls, and reliable internet.

Where do families prefer to rent in Honduras right now?

Families in Tegucigalpa look at Roble Oeste, Castaños Sur, Lomas del Guijarro and San Ignacio, where gated 2- and 3-bedrooms ask L 18,000 (about $670) and a 180 m² furnished 3-bedroom in Lomas del Guijarro asked $1,300 in October 2026.

In San Pedro Sula, families go for Jardines del Valle, Lomas del Pedregal and Residencial Verona: about $600 for a 2-bedroom in Jardines del Valle, L 25,000 (about $930) for a 3-bedroom townhouse in Verona and about $1,500 in Lomas del Pedregal.

They want gated streets, parking, more space, water storage and a short drive to the bilingual schools.

Which areas near transit or universities rent faster?

Small units near UNAH on Boulevard Suyapa, near UNITEC, around the airport zone in the south of Tegucigalpa, and along Circunvalación in San Pedro Sula are the easiest to let, because students and young workers keep coming.

Being close does not come cheap: La Prensa found that even the smallest apartments near business areas and universities rent for more than L 8,000 to L 10,000 a month.

No one publishes leasing times, so treat any "rents in two weeks" claim as sales talk.

Which neighborhoods are most popular with expats in Honduras right now?

On Roatán, expats rent in West End, West Bay and Sandy Bay, paying $350 to $700 for a 1-bedroom and $700 to $1,200 for a 2-bedroom in West End (GoPro Caribbean, May 2026).

In Tegucigalpa, work-based expats and diplomats choose Colonia Lara (near the US Embassy), Lomas del Guijarro and Palmira, where a furnished 122 m² 2-bedroom in Urbana Lara asked $1,400 (about L 37,600) in 2026.

Roatán's rental market is mostly priced in dollars and driven by divers, retirees and remote workers; the capital's expat market runs on embassies, NGOs and companies.

Who rents, and what tenants will pay extra for

What tenant profiles dominate rentals in Honduras?

Renting is the second most common way to live in Honduras: 17.8% of homes are rented, or 463,659 dwellings, against 67.9% fully owned (INE household survey 2024, reported by La Prensa).

Most of those tenants are local salaried families and workers in simple 1- and 2-bedrooms priced in lempiras. Students and young professionals take studios and 1-bedrooms near universities and offices.

Expats, diplomats and corporate tenants are a small group, but they are the ones renting furnished units in dollars, which is the segment most foreign investors target.

Do tenants prefer furnished or unfurnished?

Local families mostly rent unfurnished. Furnished units are for expats, corporate tenants, students and anyone staying under two years.

The gap is big: in Tegucigalpa, furnished 2-bedrooms asked $850 to $1,400 on 22 October 2026, while unfurnished or kitchen-only 2-bedrooms asked L 14,000 to L 18,000 (about $520 to $670). Part of that gap is the neighborhood, not just the furniture.

Which amenities increase rent the most?

The five amenities tenants pay for are 24/7 security, covered parking, air conditioning, backup power and water storage.

More and more listings fold services into the rent: a 65 m² 2-bedroom in Los Álamos, San Pedro Sula, asked L 15,000 a month with water, internet, cable and security included, and a 2-bedroom in Loarque asked L 15,500 with maintenance, water and security included. Bundling makes the headline rent look higher, so compare the total monthly cost, not the asking price alone.

What renovations get the best ROI for rentals?

The upgrades that pay are air conditioning, a clean modern kitchen and bathroom, better locks and access control, and a water tank or backup power.

On Roatán, energy efficiency matters more: RECO charges L 6.11 per kWh up to 150 kWh and L 8.95 per kWh above that (CREE tariff, September to November 2026), so inverter air conditioning or solar keeps a unit attractive.

Skip imported luxury finishes in mid-market areas: tenants there compare on price, safety and water, not on marble.

How strong is rental demand in Honduras?

What's the vacancy rate for rentals?

Honduras does not publish a rental vacancy rate for the country or any city, and we found no credible private estimate. Treat any vacancy percentage you see as a guess.

The closest hard numbers are on the short-term side: on Roatán, Airbnb-type listings filled 32% of available nights between October 2025 and September 2026, against 27% for Honduras as a whole (AirROI).

On the ground, secure and well-priced apartments in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula let without much trouble, while overpriced luxury units sit: a furnished 2-bedroom in Urbana Lara showed a 13% price cut on Encuentra24 in 2026.

How many days do rentals stay listed?

No portal or agency publishes days on market for Honduran rentals, so we will not invent one.

What you can do is watch the listing date and price-cut tags on Encuentra24: when a unit in your target building has been up for months or shows a cut, that is your negotiation room.

Which months have peak tenant demand?

In the cities, demand picks up in January and February, before the school year starts, and again mid-year with job moves. November and December are slow.

On Roatán, the short-term season is sharp: occupancy peaked at 53.1% in February 2026 and 48.3% in March, then fell to 24.5% in November 2025 (AirROI).

Can a landlord raise the rent with inflation at 6.28%?

Not on his own. Under the Ley de Inquilinato, a landlord cannot impose a rent increase unilaterally; increases go through the agreement with the tenant or the rent office (Departamento Administrativo de Inquilinato, DAI), according to UNAH's legal clinic.

With inflation at 6.28%, a L 15,000 rent that never moves loses about L 940 of buying power in a year. That is why many owners price in dollars or write the increase rule into the lease from day one.

Other rules worth knowing: the deposit is negotiable (usually one or two months), a tenant can generally leave with 60 days' written notice, a landlord who needs the home for himself or close family gives about three months' notice, and two months of unpaid rent plus eight days is the ground to go to court.

You cannot change the locks, keep the tenant's belongings or cut water or power to force someone out; eviction needs a judge, and nobody publishes how long that takes.

What to do: sign a written lease with a yearly increase clause, register it with the DAI where required, ask for two months' deposit, and check the tenant's job and references before handing over keys.

Airbnb or a long lease on Roatán: which pays more in 2026?

On paper, Airbnb wins. AirROI shows an average Roatán 1-bedroom grossed L 319,000 (about $11,900) and a 2-bedroom L 466,000 (about $17,350) between October 2025 and September 2026, with 36% and 33% occupancy.

But a unit run as tourist accommodation pays 15% sales tax (ISV) plus the 4% tourism tax; normal residential leases are ISV-exempt. If the taxes come out of the nightly price, the 2-bedroom keeps about L 392,000, and after AirROI's own assumptions of 10% for a co-host and 5% for utilities, about L 333,000 (about $12,400), before cleaning, furniture and condo fees.

A long lease on a West End 2-bedroom brings $700 to $1,200 a month, so $8,400 to $14,400 a year, with no sales tax, no turnover and far less work.

Check three things before you go short-term: whether your building's rules (under the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal) allow it, whether your unit can fill February and March, and whether you can live with an island sales market that slowed in 2026, with 26% fewer closed sales in the first half than a year earlier (Roatan Reef's analysis of Roatán MLS data).

What a landlord pays in Honduras: taxes and running costs

What property taxes should landlords expect in Honduras?

Property tax is municipal and charged per thousand lempiras of cadastral value: L 3.50 per L 1,000 for urban property in Tegucigalpa, L 3.00 per L 1,000 for urban residential property in San Pedro Sula (2026 plan) and L 3.50 per L 1,000 in La Ceiba (2025 plan).

On a cadastral value of L 2,000,000 (about $74,500), that is about L 7,000 (about $260) a year in Tegucigalpa and L 6,000 (about $225) in San Pedro Sula. Cadastral values are often below market prices, so the real bill is usually small.

We did not find a verified 2026 rate for Roatán: ask the municipality before you buy.

What utilities do landlords often pay in Honduras right now?

Landlords usually pay the condo fee, building security and municipal charges, and often water. Tenants pay electricity, internet and gas, unless the rent bundles them.

On Roatán, condo fees are the big line: $300 a month at Blue Vista in West End to $500 at Acqua di Mare in West Bay, according to MLS listings.

Electricity is the cost tenants watch: on Roatán, using 300 kWh a month at RECO's current tariff costs about L 2,260 (about $84).

How is rental income taxed?

A resident landlord pays a 10% final tax on residential rent once rent for one home, or for units in the same property, goes above L 15,000 a month (about $560).

A non-resident owner pays 25%, withheld on Honduran rental income. That is the rate most foreign buyers who live abroad should plan around.

Short-term rentals treated as tourist accommodation add 15% ISV and the 4% tourism tax. Keep records of every cost, and do not split units on paper to stay under the L 15,000 threshold: the rule counts units in the same property together.