Summary
Not really. A typical Tulum 2-bed at US$245K rents for US$1,020 a month and leaves US$240 after costs and tax, a 1.1% net rental yield and ~90 years to earn back the price from rent alone. Tumben Kaa does best at 1.7%, while Selva Zama is lowest at 0.6%.
That gap comes mainly from what buyers pay. Tulum Country Club and Aldea Tulum keep more of each dollar invested because they cost less to buy, while Aldea Zama and the beach sit near the bottom.
The rent itself has not disappeared. Tulum Beach still gets US$1,880 a month, the highest rent in our table, but high rents come with high purchase prices and high monthly costs, so little of the rent turns into a return.
Rents have also weakened across most of Tulum. They are down 8% citywide over the last 12 months, with the sharpest cuts in Centro Tulum and Villas Tulum; Region 15 is the only area where they rose.
That softer rent market sits inside a much bigger supply story. El Economista reported in July 2026 that home sales fell sharply from 2023 to 2025 while building kept going, and official figures show weaker hotel occupancy this year, so owners compete for yearly tenants with plenty of furnished alternatives.
Tax makes the base case worse for foreign owners. We use Mexico's default tax on a non-resident's gross rent, but the SAT has a procedure that lets qualifying U.S. residents pay on net income, so some owners can legally do better than our conservative figures.
Off-plan purchases push the return down again. Developers' list prices rose +15 to +40% over 5 years, well above resale, while a yearly tenant compares finished homes available now.
So Tulum can still leave an owner with positive cash each month, but that is a low bar. The better numbers are in cheaper or more distinctive areas, and even those returns are thin for someone buying for income.
Our Tulum rental-return table by area
This table gives our verdict for each of the 15 areas of Tulum we track, with the figures behind it: net rental yield, what is left in your pocket, years to earn back the purchase price, asking price, monthly rent, monthly costs and the latest rent change.
It also shows how the numbers change from the beach and the investor-heavy condo zones to cheaper residential areas, so you can check every area figure used below.
If you want real answers from the field about a specific home or street, ask a pro in Tulum for free.
| Area |
Verdict our short answer |
Net Rental Yield after tax, % of what you paidiCollected rent (10 of 12 months) minus 25% non-resident tax on gross, 10% manager, building fees, property tax 0.15% and upkeep 0.5% of the price, divided by price + 7% buying costs. |
Left in Your Pocket each month iSame calculation as the yield, divided by 12. |
Years to Earn Back from rent alone iPrice + buying costs divided by what is left each year; prices assumed flat. |
Price 2-bed flat, asking iPrice per sq ft of the area × 950 sq ft (a typical 2-bed of ~88 m²). |
Monthly Rent 2-bed flat, yearly leaseiLong-term asking rents: Propiedades.com area averages, Tulum Times area ranges and ~60 listings read one by one; median per area, converted at 18.6. |
Costs You Pay per month, tax includediRent minus what is left: empty months, tax, manager, building fees, property tax and upkeep. |
Rent Change last 12 months iPropiedades.com area change (18 months), checked against manager quotes (Villas Tulum −21 to −33%). |
Price Change last 12 months, resaleiCity reference figure ~−2%; each area from its Propiedades.com 18-month change scaled to 12 months, smoothed with demand signals (broker requests, days on market). |
Why what drives the verdict here |
Data confidence iHigh: direct data for this area. Medium: one strong source, or several pointing the same way, with our own estimate. Low: few signals, an order of magnitude. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TulumChecked Nov 2026 | Not really | 1.1% | US$240 | ~90 years | US$245K | US$1,020 | US$780 | −8% | −2% | Rent of about US$1,020 a month leaves 1.1% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. Lots of new condos, fewer buyers and softer tourism since 2024. | Medium |
| Tulum Beach | Not really | 1.0% | US$410 | 100+ years | US$475K | US$1,880 | US$1,480 | −5% | 0% | Rent of about US$1,880 a month leaves 1.0% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. Beachfront is scarce and building is restricted. Homes take about 9 months to sell. | Medium |
| Selva Zama | Not really | 0.6% | US$190 | 100+ years | US$361K | US$1,290 | US$1,100 | −8% | −3% | Rent of about US$1,290 a month leaves 0.6% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. A newer, pricier jungle area next to Aldea Zama with little built around it yet. | Medium |
| Cobá Road | Not really | 1.0% | US$230 | 100+ years | US$266K | US$970 | US$740 | −8% | −3% | Rent of about US$970 a month leaves 1.0% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. Jungle villas and lots west of town, car‑dependent. Homes take about 18 months to sell. | Medium |
| Aldea Zama | Not really | 0.7% | US$170 | 100+ years | US$249K | US$1,130 | US$960 | −8% | −1% | Rent of about US$1,130 a month leaves 0.7% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. The best‑known area, but nearly a thousand homes for sale. | Medium |
| Centro Tulum | Not really | 1.3% | US$280 | ~78 years | US$247K | US$990 | US$710 | −12% | −6% | Rent of about US$990 a month leaves 1.3% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. Where locals live, but resale is very slow. Homes take about 20 months to sell. | Medium |
| Region 8 | Not really | 1.0% | US$210 | 100+ years | US$242K | US$910 | US$700 | −10% | −3% | Rent of about US$910 a month leaves 1.0% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. Close to the beach road but still half building site, with many lots and slow sales. | Medium |
| Villas Tulum | Not really | 0.8% | US$180 | 100+ years | US$238K | US$730 | US$550 | −12% | +5% | Rent of about US$730 a month leaves 0.8% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. A quieter residential area with few new projects, where prices held but rents were cut. | Medium |
| La Veleta | Not really | 0.9% | US$200 | 100+ years | US$238K | US$890 | US$690 | −6% | +2% | Rent of about US$890 a month leaves 0.9% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. The liveliest area with cafes and shops, still crowded with condos and some unpaved streets. | Medium |
| Region 15 | Not really | 1.3% | US$250 | ~80 years | US$223K | US$910 | US$660 | +4% | −1% | Rent of about US$910 a month leaves 1.3% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. Packed with near‑identical studios that no longer rent. Homes take about 11 months to sell. | Medium |
| Tulum Country Club | Not really | 1.6% | US$320 | ~61 years | US$220K | US$1,240 | US$910 | −5% | +2% | Rent of about US$1,240 a month leaves 1.6% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. A finished, gated golf community outside town. Homes take about 5 months to sell. | Medium |
| Holistika | Not really | 1.1% | US$220 | ~88 years | US$218K | US$860 | US$640 | −8% | −3% | Rent of about US$860 a month leaves 1.1% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. A small wellness enclave in the jungle, liked by buyers but with very few sales. | Medium |
| Tumben Kaa | Not really | 1.7% | US$240 | ~60 years | US$162K | US$810 | US$570 | −6% | −3% | Rent of about US$810 a month leaves 1.7% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. A local residential area, cheaper than the condo zones, with houses doing better than flats. | Medium |
| Aldea Tulum | Not really | 1.4% | US$140 | ~73 years | US$114K | US$510 | US$370 | 0% | −6% | Rent of about US$510 a month leaves 1.4% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. A huge development of about 6,000 small flats bought to rent out, many now empty. | Medium |
| Fewer listings, rough estimates ?We're still digging into these areas. Once we find solid sources, they'll move up into the main table. | |||||||||||
| Tankah | Not really | 0.8% | US$360 | 100+ years | US$504K | US$1,720 | US$1,370 | — | +1% | Rent of about US$1,720 a month leaves 0.8% a year after costs and the 25% foreign‑owner tax. A thin beachfront market with halted projects. Homes take about 12 months to sell. | Medium |
| Bahia Soliman | — | — | — | — | US$446K | — | — | — | 0% | — | Medium |
New-build and pre-sale prices run well above resale (+15 to +40% over 5 years on developers' lists), so buying off-plan makes these numbers worse, not better.
How we got these numbers. We used about 150 rent and price signals: portal averages by area (Propiedades.com, MonadLuxury), ~60 long-term listings read one by one, local press, managers and owners. Price is the area's resale price per sq ft × 950 sq ft. Costs: ~2 months empty a year, 10% manager, building fees seen on listings, property tax and upkeep, and Mexico's default 25% tax on a non-resident's gross rent; buying costs ~7% (4% acquisition tax plus notary and trust).
Source: TheLatinvestor property database, November 2026.
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in Tulum, for free.
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Message a proCan you make money renting out in Tulum now?
Barely. A long-term rental in Tulum can leave positive cash each month, but our typical 2-bed at US$245K, renting for US$1,020 a month and leaving US$240 after costs and tax, produces only a 1.1% net rental yield.
Tulum Beach makes the problem easy to see. A typical 2-bed there costs US$475K and monthly costs reach US$1,480, so even the highest rent in our table leaves a 1.0% net yield.
Selva Zama does worse on a US$361K 2-bed, while Tumben Kaa does best because the purchase price is far lower.
The supply backdrop gives landlords little help. El Economista reported in July 2026 that units under construction in Tulum rose from 1,466 in 2017 to 13,266 in 2023, and the same analysis put the stock of homes for sale at 6,340 in 2023.
So the answer depends on what "make money" means.
If it means collecting rent above monthly expenses, most Tulum areas manage it. If it means a decent return on the cash tied up in the property, the figures are weak across the market today, with ~90 years of rent needed to earn back the city's typical price.
Why are Tulum long-term rental yields so low?
Because Tulum buyers still pay prices set by investors for rents that year-round residents can afford. Aldea Zama costs US$249K for our typical 2-bed and rents for US$1,130 a month; La Veleta costs US$238K and rents for US$890.
The condo boom created a lot of units aimed at investors. In December 2025, El Economista reported 303 active preconstruction developments in Tulum and 11,295 units in inventory, with 937 sold from January through October, an 8.3% absorption rate.
The short-stay market adds another layer. In November 2025, the same newspaper counted a little over 11,000 vacation-rental units across more than 565 condominium or residential complexes, close to the destination's roughly 12,000 hotel rooms.
When a furnished condo struggles on short stays, moving it to a yearly lease is the obvious fallback. The tenant then chooses among homes bought on very different hopes about nightly rates, all competing for the same monthly housing budget.
Tulum does have a real resident market, but a small one: INEGI's 2020 census counted 33,374 people in the city and 46,721 in the municipality. The investment pipeline grew much faster than that population.
The table below shows how supply and demand moved in Tulum, from the official tourism figures and the housing studies quoted by El Economista.
| Measure | Period | Before | Latest | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homes sold per year | 2023 vs 2025 | 3,487 | 1,711 | InfoHabitat, July 2026 |
| Sales per development, monthly | 2022 vs 2025 | 1.4 | 0.9 | InfoHabitat, July 2026 |
| Hotel occupancy | Jan–Jul, 2025 vs 2026 | 72.67% | 63.69% | SITURQ |
| Airport passengers | Jan–Aug, a year apart | 426,000 | 283,000 | El Economista, Oct. 2026 |
| Vacation-rental occupancy | A year apart | 25% | 20.5% | El Economista, Nov. 2025 |
| Vacation-rental nights on offer | A year apart | 3.1 million | 3.2 million | El Economista, Nov. 2025 |
Is Mexico's 25% foreign-owner rental tax unavoidable in Tulum?
No. Mexico's default rule takes a quarter of a non-resident owner's gross Mexican rent, but some foreign landlords have a legal route to a different result.
Mexico's income-tax law treats rent from Mexican property as Mexican income and taxes the gross amount under the general non-resident rule, without deductions. The SAT also says that people paying rent to residents abroad must withhold and report it. We use that treatment in our base case because it is the conservative starting point for an overseas buyer.
There is an important exception for some U.S. residents. The SAT has a procedure called "Aviso de continuación de no retención de ISR por uso o goce temporal de bienes inmuebles a residentes en EUA".
It lets qualifying U.S. residents who choose this regime keep paying income tax on a net basis on rent from Mexican property. The SAT's 2026 rules say the choice is filed through the tax portal and applies by fiscal year.
The SAT also says tax treaties can reduce the tax when the owner proves residence and meets the treaty's conditions. That does not put every American, Canadian or European owner in the same position: tax residence, registration, ownership structure and the treaty all change the answer.
So our table is conservative on tax, not a personal tax return. A properly set-up owner may keep more of the rent than our figures assume.
Even then, the weakest areas stay expensive. Better tax treatment helps Selva Zama and Aldea Zama, but it cannot make a high entry price disappear.
Are Tulum rents still falling?
Mostly, yes. Tulum's long-term rents are down 8% over the last 12 months, Centro Tulum and Villas Tulum are down 12%, and Region 15 is the only area where rent rose, by 4%.
Current listings show the competition. Inmuebles24 currently displays 285 two-bedroom apartments for rent across Tulum, and 34 in La Veleta alone, with furnished asking rents from 14,000 to 30,000 pesos depending on the unit and amenities.
Those portal prices cover a different listing mix from our area figures, so we do not substitute them for our table. They do show how much choice a renter has right now.
The tourism slowdown adds pressure. When short stays pay less, more furnished units move to yearly leases and compete for the same tenants.
Villas Tulum shows the clearest split: rents were cut while resale prices held, so its rental numbers worsened from both sides at once.
The table below shows the areas where rents moved most, from the deepest cut to the only rise, next to what happened to resale prices.
| Area | Rent change | Monthly rent | Price change | 2-bed price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centro Tulum | −12% | US$990 | −6% | US$247K |
| Villas Tulum | −12% | US$730 | +5% | US$238K |
| Region 8 | −10% | US$910 | −3% | US$242K |
| Cobá Road | −8% | US$970 | −3% | US$266K |
| Aldea Zama | −8% | US$1,130 | −1% | US$249K |
| La Veleta | −6% | US$890 | +2% | US$238K |
| Aldea Tulum | 0% | US$510 | −6% | US$114K |
| Region 15 | +4% | US$910 | −1% | US$223K |
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Message a proWhy is Region 15 the only Tulum area where rent went up?
Mostly because Region 15 is rebounding from a low point: the area is packed with near-identical studios that no longer rent, and even after the rise it produces only a 1.3% net yield.
A small rebound after rents were pushed down does not make Region 15 a strong income market. Our typical unit there leaves US$250 a month after costs and tax, and takes ~80 years to earn back the purchase price from rent alone.
There is enough year-round demand for that rebound to make sense. INEGI's 2020 census found that work was the reason for 64.8% of recent moves into Tulum municipality. Tourism, construction, restaurants, property management and services all create renters who want a normal monthly lease.
At the same time, Region 15 competes with a huge amount of investor housing, and its homes take about 11 months to sell.
Region 15's resale price slipped over the last 12 months while rent rose. That combination helps a new landlord, because the income is moving up while the entry price has softened.
For now, though, Region 15 is an exception on rent direction, not on Tulum's low-return problem.
Do cheaper Tulum neighborhoods make better rentals?
Mostly, yes. Tumben Kaa has the highest net rental yield in our Tulum table at 1.7% on a US$162K 2-bed, Tulum Country Club reaches 1.6% on US$220K, and Selva Zama has the lowest yield in our table.
Aldea Tulum makes the same point from the bottom of the price range. It has the lowest 2-bed price and the lowest rent in our table, yet it reaches a 1.4% net yield. The owner keeps only US$140 a month, but much less capital is tied up in the property.
The expensive areas work the other way. Tankah has the highest 2-bed price at US$504K and yields 0.8%, and Selva Zama charges more rent than Tumben Kaa but costs far more to buy.
Tulum Country Club also combines a moderate price with US$1,240 of monthly rent, and homes there take about 5 months to sell against about 20 months in Centro Tulum, so the owner also gets an easier exit.
The building boom helps explain the pattern. El Economista reported in July 2026 that Tulum housing prices rose 39% from 2021 to 2025 while construction costs rose 47%, and developers shrank apartment sizes to keep prices within reach of investors. Long-term tenants now decide what those small units can earn.
The table below shows our areas from the cheapest 2-bed to the priciest, with the costs and the cash left each month.
| Area | 2-bed price | Monthly costs | Left each month | Net yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldea Tulum | US$114K | US$370 | US$140 | 1.4% |
| Tumben Kaa | US$162K | US$570 | US$240 | 1.7% |
| Tulum Country Club | US$220K | US$910 | US$320 | 1.6% |
| Centro Tulum | US$247K | US$710 | US$280 | 1.3% |
| Aldea Zama | US$249K | US$960 | US$170 | 0.7% |
| Selva Zama | US$361K | US$1,100 | US$190 | 0.6% |
| Tulum Beach | US$475K | US$1,480 | US$410 | 1.0% |
| Tankah | US$504K | US$1,370 | US$360 | 0.8% |
Why does Tulum Beach rent for so much but yield so little?
Because Tulum Beach is expensive to buy and expensive to carry. Our typical 2-bed there rents for US$1,880 a month, the highest rent in our table, but the purchase price and the monthly costs swallow most of it.
The beach has genuine scarcity. Building is restricted, the location is known worldwide and beachfront homes are not interchangeable with inland condos. That keeps asset prices high even when the rent available on a yearly lease does not rise at the same pace.
The summer weakened the alternative use of those units. In September 2026, El Economista reported that some Tulum beach hotels were at 15% to 20% occupancy in June, and some reported weekly sargassum-removal bills above 500,000 pesos.
Those are hotel costs, not condo costs, but they show how hard the season was for beachfront businesses. By late September, the newspaper reported weekly hotel occupancy at 42.1%.
A yearly tenant gives the owner steadier income than a weak tourism season, but that tenant pays for a home, not for the beachfront premium the owner paid. Tulum Beach needs 100+ years of rent to earn back its price under our figures, and homes there take about 9 months to sell.
Is Aldea Zama still a good place to buy for long-term rent?
No. Aldea Zama remains one of Tulum's best-known addresses, but our typical 2-bed there leaves US$170 a month after costs and tax, a 0.7% net rental yield.
The area has a lot of direct competition. Our research finds nearly a thousand homes for sale in Aldea Zama, and Inmuebles24's current two-bedroom rental search there shows 88 listings.
Those listings span a wide range: furnished units ask from 14,000 to 35,000 pesos a month, with pools, gyms, terraces and private outdoor space used to win the same tenant.
Resale is not rescuing the income return. Aldea Zama's resale price edged down over the last 12 months while rent fell faster.
In November 2025, the president of the Quintana Roo valuers' association told El Economista that price gains in Tulum had stalled amid saturation, fraud concerns and weak sales.
Aldea Zama can still make sense for someone who wants to live there and values the streets and amenities. For a buyer focused on rental income, its yield is much harder to defend: the name is already in the price, and the tenant can compare dozens of furnished condos before signing.
Ask an agent who knows
Tulum, for free.
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Message a proDoes buying off-plan in Tulum improve the rental return?
No. Buying off-plan in Tulum usually makes the long-term rental return worse, because the buyer pays a developer premium without getting a matching premium in yearly rent.
Developers' list prices for new and pre-sale units rose +15 to +40% over 5 years, well ahead of resale. Once the building is finished, the tenant compares the unit with other finished apartments nearby and pays nothing extra because the owner bought from a developer.
The pipeline makes that gap more dangerous. The December 2025 count of preconstruction stock showed most units still unsold, and in June 2026 El Economista called Tulum a warning for developers of apartment towers, with many boom-era projects struggling to sell.
The InfoHabitat study cited by El Economista in July 2026 also said the boom was driven partly by hopes of vacation-rental income and price gains, with some projects marketed around returns near 10% a year.
Our long-term rental figures are nowhere near those promises. Even Tumben Kaa, the strongest area we measure, is far below that, and many of the condo-heavy areas do worse than the beach.
An off-plan purchase can work when the buyer gets a genuine discount to comparable finished resale units and the project is delivered as promised. Paying a premium just because a unit is new is a much tougher bet in Tulum today.
Are Tulum's ownership costs eating most of the rent?
Yes. In Tulum, vacancy, management, building fees, upkeep, property tax and the default foreign-owner tax leave only a small part of the rent in the owner's pocket.
Across Tulum, monthly costs of US$780 eat most of the typical rent. Selva Zama brings in US$1,290 against US$1,100 in costs, and Aldea Zama keeps US$170 of its rent.
Our figures allow for ~2 months empty a year and a 10% manager. We use those assumptions because an overseas owner should not count on perfect occupancy or free management in a city with a large stock of furnished apartments.
There is no official vacancy rate for Tulum's yearly leases, but portal stock gives a view of the competition: Inmuebles24 currently lists 571 apartments for rent across Tulum.
Building fees show up in the listings too. Many current La Veleta ads say condo maintenance is included in the rent while utilities are separate, so the owner absorbs the building fee. Some listings add separate charges for pool upkeep or the contract.
Who rents long term in Tulum if tourism is weaker?
Mostly people who moved to Tulum for work, a real year-round tenant base but much smaller than the housing built during the investment boom.
INEGI's 2020 census gives the clearest official view. Among Tulum residents aged five and over who had lived somewhere else five years earlier, 18.4% had changed residence, and work explained most of those moves.
That fits the demand seen in Centro Tulum, Tumben Kaa, Aldea Tulum and other areas where people can live year-round without paying a beach premium. Tourism, construction, restaurants, transport, property management and local services all need workers who rent normal homes.
The tourism sector is still large in a weaker year. Quintana Roo's official tourism profile counts 239 hotels and 11,993 rooms in Tulum, and those businesses keep employing people when occupancy falls.
The harder question is whether those residents can fill the housing built for investors. El Economista's July 2026 review of InfoHabitat data put Tulum's housing occupancy at 21%, against 89% in Cancún and 82% in Playa del Carmen.
So the yearly tenant base is real, but landlords compete for it with a large stock of furnished housing. That is why cheaper residential areas can do better even when their monthly rent looks modest.
So, can you make money renting out in Tulum now?
Not really. A typical Tulum 2-bed costs US$245K, rents for US$1,020 a month and yields 1.1% after costs and tax, so the market leaves owners with positive cash more often than with a real return on the money invested.
The best cases are cheaper or more distinctive. Tumben Kaa has the highest yield in our table, and Tulum Country Club and Aldea Tulum also beat the city's typical home. Those are the parts of Tulum where the entry price gives the rent a chance to work.
The investor-heavy and premium areas are much harder. Selva Zama yields 0.6%, Aldea Zama 0.7%, La Veleta 0.9% and Tulum Beach 1.0%.
Tulum Beach collects the highest rent in our table, but its US$475K price and US$1,480 of monthly costs absorb most of the advantage.
Rent direction is also wrong across most of the city. Rents fell citywide over the last 12 months, with the deepest cuts in Centro Tulum and Villas Tulum, and Region 15 is the one area where they rose, still yielding 1.3%.
Tax is the one place where an individual buyer can improve the result. Our figures use Mexico's default tax on a non-resident's gross rent, while the SAT offers qualifying U.S. residents a way to pay on net income and tax treaties can help in other cases. A buyer's exact tax setup is worth working out before purchase.
The bigger issue is supply. Tulum spent years adding investor condos, and the latest housing reports still describe slow sales and a large inventory. Off-plan buyers who pay above comparable resale prices start from an even harder position.
What would change the picture is clear: rents rising across several areas, inventory clearing, and purchase prices lining up with what year-round tenants can pay. None of the three is happening yet.
For now, the right unit in Tulum can cover its costs and leave some cash each month. As a pure long-term income investment, Tulum does not pay.
Our methodology
Our data runs through November 2026. We estimate what a typical 2-bed rented on a yearly lease leaves an owner in Tulum as a whole and in each area, then compare that cash with the purchase price to judge the net rental return.
Our register for Tulum holds 650 signals from 124 independent websites; for this table we used about 150 rent and price signals: portal averages by area from Propiedades.com and MonadLuxury, ~60 long-term listings read one by one, local press, property managers and owners. Our purchase price is the area's resale price per sq ft applied to a 950 sq ft 2-bed, and figures marked with "~" are our estimates, orders of magnitude rather than exact values.
Our costs allow for ~2 months empty a year, a 10% manager, building fees seen in listings, property tax, upkeep and Mexico's default 25% tax on a non-resident's gross rent. We also count buying costs of ~7%, the 4% acquisition tax plus notary and trust costs, when judging the wider economics of the purchase.
A High confidence level means strong sources that agree. Medium means one strong source, or several pointing the same way, with our own estimate per area built from the figure for the whole of Tulum and what we know of each area. Where we could not estimate a cell well, we leave it empty.
Tulum has no public register by area that combines yearly-lease rents, vacancy and completed sale prices. Asking prices can differ from completed deals, furnished apartments are not perfectly comparable, building fees vary by development, and an individual owner's tax can differ from our non-resident base case.
The first objection is the 25% gross-rent tax. The SAT offers qualifying U.S. residents a net-basis route, and tax treaties can change the treatment for others. We keep the default rule in our table because it gives an overseas buyer a conservative starting point before personal tax planning.
We judge the rental case from resale asking prices, observed long-term rents and recurring ownership costs. That keeps the comparison tied to what a buyer pays and what a year-round tenant pays today, rather than to developers' return projections.
Key sources used for this analysis include Mexico's income-tax law and the treatment of Mexican-source real-estate rental income, SAT definition of a resident abroad for Mexican tax purposes, SAT withholding and reporting obligations for payments to residents abroad, SAT guidance on applying tax-treaty benefits, SAT net-basis rental-income election procedure for qualifying U.S. residents, 2026 SAT procedural rules for the U.S.-resident net-basis election, Quintana Roo official hotel-occupancy comparison for Tulum and other destinations in 2026, Official Tulum tourism profile, hotel count and room supply, INEGI 2020 population, migration and housing profile for Tulum municipality, Current two-bedroom Tulum rental inventory and asking-listing examples, Current La Veleta two-bedroom long-term rental listings, Current Aldea Zama two-bedroom long-term rental listings, July 2026 reporting on Tulum construction, inventory, sales, absorption and housing occupancy, June 2026 reporting on Tulum's oversupply and weak development sales, Preconstruction inventory, active developments and absorption in Tulum, Vacation-rental inventory, occupancy, available nights and rate pressure in Tulum, October 2026 hotel-occupancy and Tulum airport passenger trends, September 2026 reporting on very low Tulum beach hotel occupancy and sargassum costs and Quintana Roo valuers' comments on Tulum saturation, sales weakness and stalled appreciation.
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