What the Riviera Maya really returns

Rental yields on the Riviera Maya are quoted three ways: optimistically by developers, defensively by owners, and honestly almost nowhere. Here is what the numbers actually look like when you remove the marketing filter and account for the costs everyone forgets.

Start with the two rental regimes. Short-term (Airbnb, Vrbo, boutique platforms) targets tourists — high nightly rates, high vacancy variance, high operating cost. Long-term (annual leases to expats and locals) targets residents — lower rate, near-zero vacancy, minimal operating cost. Most owners run some blend of the two, tilted toward short-term in December through April and long-term for the summer.

Gross versus net matters enormously. A number without the word "net" attached is roughly meaningless. Let me walk through a worked example, then generalise.

Take a two-bedroom condominium purchased for USD 380,000 in a well-located Playa del Carmen building — Coco Beach or the Fifth Avenue corridor. Furnished and rentable, USD 400,000 all-in. On short-term rental with competent management:

Average daily rate: USD 180 in high season (November–April), USD 110 in low season (May–October).

Occupancy: 78% high season, 52% low season.

Annual gross revenue: roughly USD 32,000.

That gross number is what listings quote. Now the costs.

Property management: 20% to 25% of gross for full-service (marketing, guest communication, cleanings scheduled, maintenance coordinated). Call it USD 7,500.

Airbnb/Vrbo platform fees: 3% host fee plus a portion of guest fees baked into the rate. Effective drag: USD 800 to 1,200.

Cleanings: charged to the guest, typically not a cost. Neutral.

Utilities: electricity is the big one. Air conditioning in Quintana Roo runs on tiered CFE pricing that punishes high consumption viciously. Budget USD 200 to 400 per month for a rented unit. Annual: USD 3,600.

Internet, cable, water, gas: USD 100 per month. Annual: USD 1,200.

Condo fees (HOA/cuotas): building-dependent, but USD 250 to 500 per month is a working range. Annual: USD 4,200.

Property tax (predial): USD 300 to 600 per year.

Fideicomiso annual fee: USD 650.

Maintenance reserve: minimum 1% of property value per year for a coastal environment (salt, humidity, sun). USD 4,000.

Insurance: USD 800 to 1,200 for full coverage including hurricane.

Furnishings depreciation: linens, appliances, TVs, sofas — realistic replacement cycle 5 to 7 years on a rented unit. Amortised: USD 2,000 to 3,000 per year.

Sum the costs: roughly USD 25,500 on a USD 32,000 gross. Net operating income: USD 6,500. On a USD 400,000 basis, that is 1.6% net.

That is not a bug. That is short-term rental economics in a resort market once you count everything.

Now the long-term version of the same asset. Two-bedroom, fully furnished, leased annually to an expat family or remote worker at USD 1,700 per month:

Annual gross: USD 20,400.

Property management: 10% (much lower — no turnover). USD 2,040.

Utilities: paid by the tenant. USD 0.

Condo fees, tax, fideicomiso, insurance, maintenance reserve: USD 10,600.

Furnishings depreciation: negligible on a long-term stable tenant. USD 500.

Net operating income: USD 7,260. Net yield: 1.8%.

Long-term is often marginally better than short-term at the net level, with a fraction of the operational headache. That is a genuinely surprising result for most buyers.

Where does the return actually come from, then? Appreciation. On well-selected coastal assets in Playa del Carmen and Tulum, price appreciation has averaged 6% to 9% per year over the last decade, with wide variance year-to-year. Ciudad Mayakoba, Tulum Country Club and the more mature master-planned developments have generally outperformed that band; peripheral areas underperformed.

The honest total-return math for a well-chosen Riviera Maya asset is therefore roughly:

Net rental yield: 1.5% to 3%.

Long-run appreciation: 5% to 8%.

Total unlevered return: 7% to 11%.

That is competitive with other asset classes, but it is not the "12% cash-on-cash" that some sales decks advertise. Those decks quote gross rental yield on the asking price with occupancy assumptions borrowed from the busiest month.

Where the real levers are, in order of impact:

Location within the town. A three-block move in Playa del Carmen or Tulum changes rental rate by 20% to 40%. This matters more than any operational choice.

Buying well. Every 10% you save at acquisition adds 10% to every yield calculation forever.

Furnishing quality. A well-furnished unit at the top of its price band rents to a different customer than a "hotel-standard" unit, with less wear and better reviews.

Management. The difference between a mediocre local manager and a professional one is 15% to 25% of net revenue.

Regime choice. Short-term makes sense when the location is prime and occupancy will be high. Long-term makes sense when the location is good but not central. Getting this wrong is expensive.

A few realities worth stating plainly. Yields are lower than they used to be. Ten years ago, Riviera Maya returns of 6% to 8% net were common; supply has caught up. The 15%+ gross numbers that circulated in 2016 are marketing artefacts today. Anyone quoting them is either uninformed or hopeful.

The market rewards patience. Rushed acquisitions underperform. Assets bought during the two annual soft windows — May–June and September–October — consistently outperform assets bought at listing prices in high season.

And finally: buy for the life, not the yield. If the numbers require you to rent aggressively to justify the purchase, you have bought the wrong asset. The best-performing Riviera Maya properties I have watched over ten years belonged to owners who used them thirty to sixty days per year and rented the balance — because they optimised for a real property rather than a spreadsheet.