“Which area of Tulum yields the most?” is the question asked most—and answered the worst.
Brochures promise neat percentages; forums repeat what they heard. Here we do something
different: we rank the four areas where we have inventory using what we can verify,
and clearly mark where data ends and estimation begins.
First, a note on “real returns”
Today we reviewed the 47 Tulum listings we have published in Spanish
(out of 79 in total). Of those, none includes a measured monthly rent, and only one
reports annual income, which is a developer figure with no track record behind it.
Plainly: we don’t have real occupancy-and-rent data by area, and we’re not going to make it up.
What we do have is what determines returns before the first
guest arrives: the cost to get in. A yield is rent divided by
price; if the entry price per square meter is lower, the same rent yields more. That’s why this
ranking is about entry price, and returns come at the end as a range.
How much inventory in each area
- La Veleta: 11 listings
- Aldea Zamá: 10 listings
- Región 15: 6 listings
- Región 10: 1 listing
- Another 19 Tulum listings don’t state an area in the listing and we don’t count them in the ranking.
More inventory doesn’t mean a better area, but it does mean more to compare. In Región 10 there’s a
single listing, and with just one there’s no ranking to be made: it’s a data point, not a trend.
1. Región 15: the lowest entry price in dollars
Región 15 is where the international airport is and where we currently find the most
accessible listings: Muuk 310 at 90.000 USD with 47,56 m², Adora 401 at
125.000 USD with 45,27 m² and Naia Uhm D202 at 149.000 USD with 51 m². With the
three that publish prices in dollars, price per square meter runs from 1.892 to 2.922 USD
and the median lands around 2.761. The median is higher because two of the three sit near the top of the
range; Muuk 310 is the exception that lowers the floor.
2. Aldea Zamá: the most uniform area
Aldea Zamá is the consolidated area, with full-amenity developments. With six listings
in dollars, price per square meter runs from 1.584 to 2.582 USD, with a median around
2.076, and list prices from 220.000 to 495.000 USD. Examples: Tao Tulum G106,
235.000 USD with 91 m² (2.582 per square meter), and Sanctuary Tulum 203, 220.000 USD with
96 m². It’s the area with the narrowest price-per-square-meter range, making unit-to-unit comparisons easier.
3. La Veleta: the largest inventory, mostly in pesos
La Veleta has the largest inventory, but almost all its listings are published in pesos, so
we don’t mix currencies or compare it head-to-head with the dollar-priced areas. With five apartments from
our catalog, price per square meter runs from about 20.800 to 38.900 pesos:
Erena 109 (1.700.000 MXN, 49,65 m²) works out to about 34.200 per square meter;
Blue Luxury 202B (1.899.000 MXN, 49 m²) to about 38.800; and
Bohemian La Veleta (2.200.000 MXN, 106 m²) to about 20.800. Those pesos are not
a return or a promise: they’re the entry cost per square meter, which is the only thing
verifiable.
4. Región 10: no basis to rank
We have one listing: Edificio La Selva, at 475.000 USD with 484 m² of
floor area. It’s a whole building, not a unit, so comparing its price per square meter with
50 m² apartments would be misleading. We don’t rank it; we leave it as a reference that
Región 10 also has product, but at a different scale.
And returns: a range, with a caveat
With the caveats above, the calculation a buyer should run is this:
- Gross annual income = nightly rate × nights occupied per year.
- Subtract management (typically a percentage of rent), maintenance, property tax, and the
annual fideicomiso fee. - Divide the net by the total price, which includes 5% to 8% in closing costs.
In Tulum vacation apartments, it’s common to hear gross returns between 5% and
9% per year. That’s a market guide range, not data from our listings, and
net usually lands several points lower. An apartment that sits empty half the year
yields half as much, no matter the area.
What to check before trusting any area ranking
The “highest-yield areas” rankings that circulate almost always have the same flaw:
they compare a development’s list price with peak-season maximum rent. Three questions dismantle
them quickly:
- Where does the rent figure come from? If it’s an asking rate on a listing and not actual
income with occupancy, it’s a ceiling, not an average. - How many months per year is it occupied? Tulum has pronounced high and low
seasons, and a year with empty months looks nothing like the best month. - Were costs deducted? Management, maintenance, property tax,
fideicomiso, and closing costs come out of rent, not on top of it.
How to use this ranking in practice
Use it to filter, not to decide. If your budget is around 100.000 to 150.000 dollars,
Región 15 is where we’re finding units in that range today. If you want a consolidated area with
amenities, Aldea Zamá has the easiest price range to compare. If you prefer to pay in
pesos and want more options to choose from, La Veleta concentrates the largest number of listings.
After filtering, the next step is to visit or request video, review the documents, and
calculate the net with numbers from the specific unit.
What the ranking does say
- The lowest dollar entry is in Región 15; the most uniform is in Aldea Zamá; the cheapest
per square meter is in La Veleta (in pesos). - Between two areas with similar rents, the one with the lower entry price yields more.
- What drives a unit’s returns is occupancy and management, not just the postal code.
When we have measured rent history by area, we’ll publish it with the figures up front.
In the meantime, if you already have an area in mind, write to us and we’ll
build the comparison with real listings, total price, and annual carrying cost.
Inventory checked in the inversionesdemexico.com API on October 11, 2026.
Price-per-square-meter figures are our own calculations based on published prices and areas. The return
range, closing-cost percentages, and timelines are indicative: they vary by deal and must be confirmed
case by case before deciding.
#TulumDespierta #DespiertaTulum
Versión en español: Las zonas de Tulum por rendimiento real: La Veleta, Aldea Zamá, Región 15, Región 10 · Versão em português: Tulum: retorno real por área: La Veleta, Aldea Zamá, Regiões 15 e 10 · Version française: Tulum: zones à rendement réel: La Veleta, Aldea Zamá, Rég. 15, Rég. 10
