Summary
Less than most sellers suggest. On October 2026 asking prices and rents, Riviera Maya apartments earn about 3% to 7% gross a year on a long lease, and around 5% in an average Playa del Carmen apartment.
The best gross yields come from cheaper areas: Ejidal in Playa del Carmen (about 6.8%) and La Veleta in Tulum (about 6.0%). The beach areas of Playa, Gonzalo Guerrero and Zazil Ha, sit around 5.4% to 5.5%.
Costs and tax cut that in half or worse. With one empty month, a MXN 4,500 monthly condo fee and insurance, apartments net about 1.6% to 3.7% before income tax, and about 0.9% to 2.5% after the 25% tax a non-resident pays on gross rent.
Some areas are priced for lifestyle, not income. Playacar Fase II and Puerto Aventuras gross about 4.6%, Ciudad Mayakoba about 4.0% and Puerto Morelos under 3%.
Rents are falling while asking prices hold. Average apartment rents are down 7.6% in Playa del Carmen and 13.7% in Tulum Centro since April 2025.
The steadiest rents are in the walkable beach areas of Playa: Gonzalo Guerrero rents haven't moved (0.0%) and Zazil Ha is down only 1.5%. Puerto Aventuras rents are up 3.0%.
Tulum is the riskier bet. Hotel occupancy fell to 66.18% in the first half of 2026 from 74.32%, and Tulum airport lost 33.2% of its passengers.
Airbnb brings in more on paper but less than it looks. AirDNA puts the average listing at about USD 18,800 a year in Playa del Carmen and USD 17,400 in Tulum, before cleaning, furniture, management and platform taxes.
In Tulum, a long lease now often beats Airbnb on a small condo: about MXN 200,700 a year at La Veleta's average rent against MXN 113,000 for an average one-bedroom on Airbnb.
One-bedrooms are the most practical size, but they're also where Tulum has the most unsold stock, about five to six years of inventory according to AMPI Tulum.
Negotiation is the main lever. To reach a 6.5% gross yield at Zazil Ha's average rent, you'd need to pay about MXN 3.63 million, roughly 16% below today's average asking price.
Bottom line: buy an apartment that works as a long lease at today's rents, in an area where rents are holding, and at a price that leaves room for costs and tax. Don't count on Airbnb or price growth to fix a weak deal.
What do Riviera Maya apartments really earn, area by area?
About 3% to 7% gross before any cost, and around 2% after costs and tax for a foreign owner who doesn't live in Mexico.
The table compares the average asking price and the average asking rent for apartments in each area on Propiedades.com in September and October 2026. Gross yield is twelve months of rent divided by the price.
The net columns assume one empty month a year, a MXN 4,500 monthly condo fee (the low end of the usual MXN 4,500 to 12,000 on the coast) and about USD 700 (MXN 13,000) of insurance a year. The last column also takes off the 25% of gross rent a non-resident pays in income tax.
| Area | Town | Average asking price | Average monthly rent | Gross yield | Net yield before income tax | Net yield after 25% non-resident tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ejidal | Playa del Carmen | MXN 2,510,000 | MXN 14,200 | 6.8% | 3.6% | 2.0% |
| La Veleta | Tulum | MXN 3,360,000 | MXN 16,724 | 6.0% | 3.5% | 2.1% |
| Gonzalo Guerrero | Playa del Carmen | MXN 4,290,000 | MXN 19,675 | 5.5% | 3.5% | 2.2% |
| Tulum Centro | Tulum | MXN 3,890,000 | MXN 17,707 | 5.5% | 3.3% | 2.0% |
| Aldea Zamá | Tulum | MXN 5,160,000 | MXN 23,610 | 5.5% | 3.7% | 2.5% |
| Zazil Ha | Playa del Carmen | MXN 4,330,000 | MXN 19,675 | 5.4% | 3.4% | 2.2% |
| Playa del Carmen (all areas) | Playa del Carmen | MXN 3,980,000 | MXN 16,724 | 5.0% | 2.9% | 1.8% |
| Centro | Playa del Carmen | MXN 4,130,000 | MXN 16,692 | 4.8% | 2.8% | 1.7% |
| Luis Donaldo Colosio | Playa del Carmen | MXN 3,250,000 | MXN 12,700 | 4.7% | 2.2% | 1.2% |
| Playacar Fase II | Playa del Carmen | MXN 6,090,000 | MXN 23,500 | 4.6% | 3.1% | 2.1% |
| Puerto Aventuras | Puerto Aventuras | MXN 6,390,000 | MXN 24,593 | 4.6% | 3.2% | 2.1% |
| Ciudad Mayakoba | Playa del Carmen | MXN 3,810,000 | MXN 12,789 | 4.0% | 1.9% | 1.0% |
| Puerto Morelos | Puerto Morelos | MXN 6,040,000 | MXN 14,755 | 2.9% | 1.6% | 0.9% |
These are averages across all apartment sizes, so a single unit can do better or worse. TuLugar's October 2026 listing data gives a similar picture for Playa del Carmen: about 6.0% gross in Zazil-Ha, 5.7% in Playacar, 5.2% in Gonzalo Guerrero, 5.0% in Colosio and 4.6% in Centro.
Puerto Morelos had only 7 apartments listed for rent on Propiedades.com, so read its figure as a warning sign rather than a precise number. We didn't find a reliable 2026 sample for Akumal, Chemuyil, Cocobeach or Selvazama, so they're not in the table.
How much does tax take off a foreign landlord's rent?
If you don't live in Mexico, 25% of your gross rent goes to income tax, before you've paid a single cost. In most areas of the table above, that's 1.1 to 1.6 points of yield.
Take the average Zazil Ha apartment at about MXN 4.33 million. Eleven months of rent bring in about MXN 216,400. Take off MXN 54,000 of condo fees, MXN 13,000 of insurance and MXN 54,100 of tax, and you keep about MXN 95,300 (USD 5,120), or 2.2% of the price.
The 25% applies to gross rent with no deduction for costs. Owners who are tax residents in Mexico are taxed differently and usually pay less, so get the numbers from a Mexican accountant before you buy, not after the first rent payment.
Short-term rentals add other layers: Airbnb withholds 4% income tax if you give it a valid RFC (20% if you don't), and guests pay a 6% state lodging tax in Quintana Roo.
Which neighborhoods offer the best net yield among areas people actually want to live in?
Aldea Zamá in Tulum and Gonzalo Guerrero and Zazil Ha in Playa del Carmen, at about 3.4% to 3.7% net before income tax.
Aldea Zamá has the highest net figure in the table because its average rent, about MXN 23,610 a month (USD 1,270), is high enough to absorb a fixed condo fee. But that rent is 8.4% lower than in April 2025, and the area competes with hundreds of similar condos.
Gonzalo Guerrero and Zazil Ha are the safer version of the same result. Both list at about MXN 19,675 a month, they're walkable and close to the beach, and their rents have barely moved while the rest of Playa del Carmen fell.
The difference between these areas is less the yield than the direction: rents in central Playa are holding, rents in Tulum are still going down.
Where can I find apartments with above-average yields and below-average entry prices?
Ejidal in Playa del Carmen and La Veleta in Tulum. Both are cheaper than the average and still gross 6% or more.
Ejidal is the cheapest area in the table, at about MXN 2.51 million (USD 135,000) for an average apartment renting for MXN 14,200 a month. That's about 6.8% gross. It's a residential area for people who work in Playa, so tenants are local workers more than holiday renters.
La Veleta averages about MXN 3.36 million (USD 181,000) with a rent of MXN 16,724, about 6.0% gross. The catch is competition: La Veleta and Aldea Zamá alone had more than 600 apartments listed for rent in October 2026.
Tulum Centro, at about MXN 3.89 million, is also cheaper than Playa's beach areas, but its rents fell 13.7% in 18 months, the biggest drop of any large Tulum area.
Where does the rent still justify the asking price?
Almost nowhere at full asking price. Even the best areas gross under 7% before costs, which leaves very little once fees and tax are paid.
A good rule of thumb is to aim for at least 6.5% gross on a long lease. At the average Zazil Ha rent, that means paying about MXN 3.63 million (USD 195,000), about 16% below the area's average asking price.
Across Playa del Carmen as a whole, the gap is bigger: about MXN 3.09 million at the average rent, around 22% below the average asking price of MXN 3.98 million.
So the deal is in the negotiation. Finished resales and projects with many unsold units are where sellers have the most room, provided permits check out.
Where is the best place to buy if I want stable rental income rather than maximum yield?
Gonzalo Guerrero and Zazil Ha in Playa del Carmen, and Puerto Aventuras if you can afford the higher entry price.
Gonzalo Guerrero rents were flat (0.0%) between April 2025 and October 2026, and Zazil Ha was down only 1.5%, while Playa del Carmen as a whole dropped 7.6%. Those are the areas where tenants keep paying.
Puerto Aventuras is a gated marina and golf community for families and retirees. Its average rent rose 3.0% to about MXN 24,593 a month, but at about MXN 6.39 million an apartment, the gross yield is only about 4.6%.
Playacar Fase II is similar: steady demand from expats and families, but a price of about MXN 6.09 million that keeps the gross yield near 4.6%.
Which apartment size gives the best return for the money?
A well-placed one-bedroom is usually the best balance, but in Tulum the small-unit market is the most crowded.
One-bedrooms cost much less than two-bedrooms: about USD 184,000 against USD 262,000 in Playa del Carmen on TuLugar's October 2026 asking prices, and USD 158,000 against USD 267,000 in Tulum. They suit singles, couples and remote workers, who make up much of the rental demand.
On Airbnb in Tulum, AirROI puts the average one-bedroom at about MXN 113,000 a year and the average two-bedroom at MXN 165,000. Against typical asking prices, that's about 3.8% and 3.3% gross before costs, so the smaller unit does a bit better.
We didn't find a reliable 2026 sample of studio rents. Be careful with them: AMPI Tulum, the local realtors' association, has spoken of about five to six years of unsold inventory in studios and one-bedrooms.
Is Airbnb still worth it over a long lease in the Riviera Maya?
In Playa del Carmen, sometimes. In Tulum, often not for a small condo.
AirDNA puts the average Playa del Carmen listing at about USD 18,800 (MXN 350,000) a year in gross revenue, with 58% occupancy. That's about 74% more than a long lease at the city's average rent, but cleaning, utilities, furniture, management and platform fees come out of it. Nightly rates also fell 19.2% in a year to USD 103.
In Tulum, AirDNA has the average listing at about USD 17,400 a year with 46% occupancy, and AirROI puts Airbnb-only occupancy at about 30%. An average one-bedroom grosses about MXN 113,000 on Airbnb (AirROI), less than the roughly MXN 200,700 a year of a long lease at La Veleta's average rent.
The rules are tighter too. Quintana Roo now requires state and municipal licences and RETUR-Q registration for every short-term rental, with fines that can go above MXN 100,000 (about USD 5,380). Check that the building allows short stays and that a unit can be registered before you buy, not after.
Which neighborhoods offer strong rental income with the lowest vacancy risk?
Gonzalo Guerrero and Zazil Ha. They combine high rents, about MXN 19,675 a month, with rents that held up in 2026.
Both are walkable areas near the beach with a mix of long-stay foreigners, remote workers and locals. That mix fills apartments in low season, when tourists don't.
Puerto Aventuras is the other area where rents are rising (+3.0%), but the tenant pool is smaller and mostly families, so a vacancy can take longer to fill.
Vacancy risk comes from too much similar supply. Playa's AirDNA occupancy (58%) is well above Tulum's (46%), and that gap shows up in long-term rents too.
Which areas look overpriced relative to their rental income?
Puerto Morelos, Ciudad Mayakoba, and to a lesser extent Playacar Fase II and Puerto Aventuras.
Puerto Morelos asking prices rose 7.4% in 18 months to about MXN 6.04 million, while the few rentals listed average MXN 14,755 a month, down 2.6%. That's under 3% gross. TuLugar's median one-bedroom there asks about USD 267,000, more than in Playa or Tulum.
Ciudad Mayakoba, the family area where Lagunas de Mayakoba sits, averages about MXN 3.81 million for a rent near MXN 12,789: about 4.0% gross, and 1% after costs and tax.
Playacar Fase II and Puerto Aventuras gross about 4.6%. You're paying for security, beach access and an easier resale, not for income.
Which neighborhoods should I avoid even if the rental yield looks attractive?
Don't avoid Ejidal, La Veleta or Tulum Centro on principle, but don't buy there just because the yield looks high.
Ejidal's 6.8% gross comes from a low price, not a high rent. Resale is slower, fewer foreign buyers look there, and street quality varies a lot from block to block.
La Veleta's 6.0% is real on paper, but its rents slipped 5.7% and hundreds of furnished apartments compete for the same tenants. Roads and services are still uneven in parts of the area.
In Tulum Centro, rents fell 13.7% in 18 months. A yield calculated on last year's rent is already out of date.
Why is a high yield in Tulum riskier than the same yield in Playa?
Because Tulum's rents depend on tourism that is shrinking right now, while Playa has a much bigger year-round population.
Tulum hotel occupancy fell to 66.18% in the first half of 2026 from 74.32% a year earlier. Tulum airport handled 33.2% fewer passengers in the same period, Aeroméxico left on September 30, and Volaris stops flying there from January 7, 2027.
Only about 21% of Tulum homes are lived in permanently, against about 82% in Playa del Carmen. When tourists don't come, there are fewer local tenants to take their place.
So a 5.5% gross yield in Tulum Centro and the same yield in Gonzalo Guerrero aren't worth the same. Ask for a bigger discount in Tulum.
Which units should you skip when buying a rental apartment?
Skip units where the only good number is the yield.
Check the condo fee first. A fee at the high end of the usual range, MXN 12,000 a month, eats about MXN 144,000 a year, more than half the rent of an average Zazil Ha apartment.
Check the permits. Quintana Roo's public list of irregular developments reached 123 in August 2026, with Tulum and Playa del Carmen the most affected. Ask the notary to confirm the building's permits and the condo regime before you sign.
Check the rental rules. A unit that can't be registered for short stays, or a building that bans them, only works as a long lease, so price it on long-term rent.
And check the competition: count how many similar units are listed for rent in the same building or street. In La Veleta and Aldea Zamá, it's often dozens.
Which neighborhoods are seeing rental demand weaken, and why?
Mostly Tulum, and Playa del Carmen away from the beach.
In Tulum, apartment rents fell 13.7% in Tulum Centro, 11.5% in Villas Tulum, 8.4% in Aldea Zamá and 5.7% in La Veleta between April 2025 and October 2026. Region 15 Kukulcan (+6.0%) is the only large area still rising.
The cause is supply. Homes under construction in Tulum went from 1,466 in 2017 to 13,266 in 2023, while annual home sales fell to 1,711 in 2025. Weaker tourism adds to it.
In Playa del Carmen, the average apartment rent fell 7.6% over the same period, to MXN 16,724 a month. Centro is down 4.4%, but the beach areas of Gonzalo Guerrero and Zazil Ha have held.
Which neighborhoods are seeing new developments that could create stronger rental demand?
Few right now. Most new projects in the region add apartments, not tenants.
Playa del Carmen has the strongest base: its municipality, Solidaridad, had 333,800 residents in the 2020 census, more than double 2010. People who live and work there are what keeps Gonzalo Guerrero and Zazil Ha rented.
Tulum's airport was supposed to bring the next wave of renters, but its traffic is falling and two airlines are leaving. Don't pay extra for an "airport effect" that isn't showing up in the numbers.
Look for things that bring people who stay: jobs, schools, hospitals. Another investor-focused condo building nearby is competition, not demand.
Which neighborhoods have become less attractive for apartment investors over the last 12 months?
Tulum Centro, Aldea Zamá, Puerto Morelos and Ciudad Mayakoba.
Tulum Centro and Aldea Zamá lost 13.7% and 8.4% of their rent, and their asking prices haven't fallen as much, so yields got thinner.
Puerto Morelos went the other way: asking prices rose 7.4% while rents slipped 2.6%, leaving one of the lowest yields in the region.
Ciudad Mayakoba asking prices fell 4.8%, but its rents are among the lowest in Playa, around MXN 12,789, so the yield is still only about 4.0% gross.
Which apartment types are becoming harder to rent, and where?
Small furnished units in Tulum's new-build areas, and large, expensive apartments without family demand.
Studios and one-bedrooms in La Veleta, Aldea Zamá and Region 15 compete with thousands of short-term listings. AirROI's Tulum occupancy fell from 42% in February 2026 to 27.8% in August, and many owners now switch to long leases, which adds even more supply.
Two-bedrooms rent best where families and long-stay expats live: Playacar, Puerto Aventuras and Ciudad Mayakoba. Elsewhere, the higher price (about USD 262,000 to 267,000 for a two-bedroom in Playa and Tulum) rarely brings a matching rent.
One-bedrooms in Gonzalo Guerrero, Zazil Ha and Playa's Centro are still the easiest to fill year-round.
Related blog posts
- How much money do you need to retire in Riviera Maya now? (2026)
- Are property prices in the Riviera Maya likely to rise?
- Moving to Riviera Maya? Here's everything you need to know (2026)
- What rental yield can an apartment get in Puerto Vallarta?
Our methodology
This article estimates how much a long-term rental apartment earns in the main areas of the Riviera Maya (Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Puerto Morelos and Puerto Aventuras), before and after costs and tax.
Prices and rents are the average asking prices and asking rents for apartments on Propiedades.com, area by area, in its September and October 2026 data. Gross yield is twelve months of rent divided by the price. Net yield assumes one empty month a year, a MXN 4,500 monthly condo fee and about USD 700 of insurance; the after-tax column also takes off 25% of the rent received. We cross-checked Playa del Carmen with TuLugar's October 2026 listing data, and short-term rental figures come from AirDNA and AirROI, which we never mix in the same calculation.
Tax rules come from Mexico's income tax law (articles 113-A and 158) and the SAT. Short-term rental rules come from the Quintana Roo government and SEDETUR. Tourism figures come from SITUR Quintana Roo and the federal aviation authority (AFAC), and housing supply data from Softec as reported by El Economista.
We checked these figures in October 2026. Conversions use about 18.6 pesos per US dollar and 20.9 pesos per euro.
Asking prices are not sale prices, and real deals often close below them. Averages mix all apartment sizes and conditions, a few areas have small samples (Puerto Morelos had only 7 rentals listed), and condo fees vary a lot from building to building. Treat the yields as a starting point for your own numbers, not a promise.
Key sources used for this analysis include Propiedades.com (Zazil Ha and Playa del Carmen prices), Propiedades.com (Playa del Carmen rents), Propiedades.com (Puerto Aventuras), Propiedades.com (Puerto Morelos), Propiedades.com (Tulum rents), TuLugar Playa del Carmen, TuLugar Tulum, AirDNA Playa del Carmen, AirDNA Tulum, AirROI Tulum, Income Tax Law, article 158, SAT, article 113-A, The Mexico Handbook (condo fees), SITUR Quintana Roo, AFAC, El Economista, La Jornada Maya (AMPI Tulum), Riviera Maya News (rental fines) and Quintana Roo government (irregular developments), Riviera Maya News (123 blacklisted developments, August 2026).
