Search "Cancún rental yield" and you will find a confident number in the first paragraph of almost every result. Search three more sources and you will find three more confident numbers, and they will not agree with each other. That disagreement is not a data problem you can fix by finding the right article — it is the honest state of the information. Here is why, and here is what to do about it instead.
The numbers genuinely do not agree
We pulled current occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) estimates for Cancún short-term rentals from three independent data providers. The spread is not small:
| Source | Occupancy | Average daily rate |
|---|---|---|
| Airbtics | 57% | ~$70 (MXN 1,201) |
| AirROI | 36.1% | ~$130 |
| AirDNA | 46% | ~$320 |
That is roughly a 1.6x spread on occupancy and a 4.5x spread on daily rate, from three providers that all claim to measure the same market. The reason is not that one of them is wrong — it is that "Cancún short-term rental" is not one product. It blends a downtown studio, a hotel-zone penthouse and a Puerto Cancún marina residence into a single average, and that average describes none of them accurately. Any article that gives you one number for "the Cancún yield" has made that same blend, whether it says so or not.
The formula that actually answers your question
Instead of a citywide average, run this on the specific unit you are considering. It is not complicated — it just requires your own inputs instead of someone else's.
Gross annual rental income = ADR × 365 × occupancy rate
Net annual income = Gross income − (management fee % × gross income) − annual HOA/maintenance
Gross yield = Net annual income ÷ purchase price
Two inputs you need that a citywide average cannot give you: the ADR and occupancy comparable units in the same building are actually achieving — ask your advisor or the building's management for this, not a market report — and the building's real monthly HOA/maintenance fee, which in Cancún condos runs roughly from MXN 3,000/month for a modest property to MXN 25,000/month or more for a full-amenity beachfront building. Short-term rental management typically runs 15–25% of gross income on top of that.
What that spread means in dollars
To make the disagreement concrete instead of abstract, here is gross annual income from the formula above, using each source's own occupancy and rate together — not mixed across sources, since that would overstate the point rather than illustrate it honestly:
| Source | Occupancy × ADR | Implied gross annual income |
|---|---|---|
| Airbtics | 57% × $70 | ≈ $14,560 USD |
| AirROI | 36.1% × $130 | ≈ $17,130 USD |
| AirDNA | 46% × $320 | ≈ $53,730 USD |
Against a current entry-tier Cancún condo — Valmira, from $2,595,000 MXN — that is roughly a 3.7x difference in implied gross income depending on which published source you happened to read, before a single dollar of management fees or HOA is subtracted. That gap is the whole point: it is why we are not going to hand you a single percentage and ask you to trust it. Run the math on the specific unit, with that building's real occupancy and rate, and you get an answer you can actually rely on.
Gross income figures above are calculated directly from the occupancy/ADR estimates cited earlier (ADR × 365 × occupancy), shown to illustrate the size of the gap between sources — they are not a forecast for any specific property. Currency figures in MXN and USD are approximate and move with the exchange rate; ask an advisor for the figure on the day you are comparing.
What actually moves your return, in practice
Once you stop looking for a magic citywide number, the things that genuinely determine whether a Cancún condo performs are mostly things you can evaluate before you buy:
- Building location, specifically: Beachfront, hotel-zone-adjacent, and marina/golf communities like Puerto Cancún attract a different guest profile and price point than inland residential corridors. Neither is "better" — they are different products with different demand curves.
- Whether the building allows short-term rental: Confirmed in the bylaws, not assumed. This alone determines whether the higher-revenue, higher-effort strategy is even available to you.
- Who manages it: The spread between a well-run listing and a neglected one, in the same building, is often larger than the spread between cities. Ask for real performance data from an existing owner in the building if you can.
- Delivery stage: A finished unit starts earning immediately; a pre-construction unit earns nothing until delivery. Time-value of that gap belongs in your math.
- Your actual strategy: Long-term rental, short-term rental, and personal use with occasional renting are three different financial models. Pick one before you calculate a return, not after.
Where this leaves you
Cancún has real structural demand — an international airport that is one of the busiest in Latin America, a large and diversified local economy beyond tourism, and infrastructure investment (the Tren Maya and Tulum's new international airport both opened at the end of 2023) that is still reshaping travel and land values across the region. Those are genuine tailwinds. They are not, on their own, a yield.
If you want a number you can actually trust, get it from a specific building, not a market report: what comparable units are renting for today, what the real monthly costs are, and what an existing owner in that building — not a listing site's estimate — is actually seeing. You can browse current condos for sale in Cancún by price and delivery status, or if the marina-and-golf profile of Puerto Cancún fits your strategy better, that is a genuinely different product with its own numbers to run.
This article is general information, not investment, legal or tax advice. No rental income, occupancy, appreciation or return is implied or guaranteed. Public data cited (Airbtics, AirROI, AirDNA) reflects third-party estimates current as of publication and can change; verify current figures and building-specific bylaws before making a purchase decision.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cancún real estate a good investment?
It depends far more on the specific building, location and how it is managed than on the city-wide averages you will find in most articles — including this one. Cancún has real, durable demand drivers (a large international airport, a diversified local economy, decades of tourism infrastructure) that many secondary markets lack. But "Cancún is a good market" and "this specific condo will perform well" are two different claims, and only the second one actually determines your return.
What is a good rental yield in Cancún?
There is no single honest answer, and be skeptical of anyone who gives you one without showing their assumptions. Public occupancy and daily-rate estimates for the market vary by a factor of nearly 2x between reputable data providers. Ask instead: at what occupancy and rate does THIS unit break even, and how far is that from what comparable units in the same building are actually achieving? That is a answerable question. "The market yield" is not.
Airbnb or long-term rental — which pays more in Cancún?
Short-term rental generally has a higher revenue ceiling but real operating costs — cleaning between stays, higher management fees, seasonality, and the work of keeping a listing competitive. Long-term rental is lower revenue but far lower effort and much more predictable. If you will not be actively managing the property or paying someone who will, long-term is usually the honest choice.
How much does property management cost in Cancún?
Short-term rental management typically runs in the range of 15–25% of gross rental income industry-wide, on top of the monthly HOA/maintenance fee the building charges regardless of whether the unit is occupied. Get the exact percentage and what it includes (cleaning, guest communication, dynamic pricing) in writing before you commit to a management company.
Does Cancún real estate appreciate?
Prices in well-located, well-built projects have generally trended upward over the past decade, but past appreciation is not a guarantee of future appreciation, and it varies enormously by submarket — a beachfront tower and an inland pre-construction lot are different bets with different risk profiles. Infrastructure matters here concretely: the Tren Maya and Tulum’s international airport both opened at the end of 2023, and traffic patterns and land values in the region are still adjusting to that.
Is short-term rental legal in Cancún condos?
It depends entirely on the specific building’s bylaws (reglamento de condominio), not on a citywide rule. Some buildings allow it freely, some restrict or ban it, and some require registration. Confirm this in writing for the exact unit before you buy if short-term rental is part of your plan — do not assume it from what you see on listing sites.
