Riviera Maya Real Estate Guide & FAQ

The Riviera Maya is the stretch of Caribbean coastline running from Cancún International Airport south to Tulum and beyond — about 130 kilometers of beach, mangrove and jungle that has, over the last fifteen years, turned into the most active foreign-buyer real estate market in Mexico. There are a few reasons this isn't a passing trend.

The first is tourism. The region receives roughly 15 million international visitors a year through Cancún International — one of the ten busiest airports in Latin America — and now also through the new Tulum International Airport, which opened in late 2023 and added direct routes from Dallas, Atlanta, Toronto, Frankfurt and Madrid. The Maya Train, a 1,500-kilometer government-built railway connecting Cancún to Palenque, is reshaping access to interior cities and feeding more demand into coastal real estate. None of this is speculative — the infrastructure is built, operating and growing.

The second is the buyer profile. Roughly 60% of property purchases here are made by foreigners, primarily from the United States and Canada, with a strong contingent from Europe and Latin America. The exchange rate (the Mexican peso has hovered between 17–20 to the US dollar through 2025–26) makes Mexican real estate exceptional value compared to comparable beach markets in Florida, the Bahamas or Costa Rica — typically 30–50% less per square foot for equivalent quality.

The third is the math. Property taxes (predial) in Quintana Roo are extremely low — usually 0.1–0.3% of assessed value annually, compared to 1–2.5% in most US states. Acquisition tax at closing runs 2–4% one-time. Foreign owners pay no estate tax in Mexico. Short-term rental yields run 6–12% gross depending on area, and capital appreciation across the Riviera Maya has averaged 8–12% annually for well-located product over the last decade.

And finally, it works as a place to live. The Riviera Maya has full-service hospitals (Galenia and Hospiten), international schools across Playa del Carmen and Tulum, Costco and Walmart, world-class restaurants, and one of the largest expat communities in Latin America. Most of our buyers come for the investment and stay for the lifestyle.

The entire Riviera Maya sits inside Mexico's "restricted zone" — the 50-kilometer strip from the coastline inward where foreigners cannot hold direct title to property. This rule comes from a 1917 constitutional provision and applies to all foreign nationals. It is not, however, an obstacle to ownership.

Since 1973, foreign buyers have purchased property in the restricted zone through a fideicomiso — a renewable bank trust in which a Mexican bank holds legal title as trustee, while you, the foreign buyer, hold all beneficial rights: you can occupy, rent, modify, sell, or pass the property to heirs exactly as you would with direct ownership. The trust is initially 50 years and is renewable indefinitely. There are no restrictions on selling, no annual quotas on rental income, and no special tax treatment that disadvantages foreign owners.

In practical terms: setup runs $500–$1,500 USD plus an annual bank trustee fee of $500–$1,000. The fideicomiso is registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and recorded with the public registry the same way any deed would be. Mexican banks (Banamex, Scotiabank, Monex, CIBanco are the main trustees) handle the paperwork; our team coordinates the bank, notary and SRE permit application so closing typically runs in parallel with the rest of the purchase.

For multiple properties or income-generating real estate, a Mexican corporation (S.A. de C.V.) can sometimes be more efficient than a fideicomiso. We work through the math with each buyer — for most single-property purchases under $735,000, the fideicomiso is the simpler and cheaper structure.

Gross short-term rental yields in the Riviera Maya run 6–12% depending on area, property quality and management quality. Playa del Carmen averages 6–9% with the steadiest year-round occupancy on the coast — its airport access via Cancún and large permanent expat population keep demand flowing through every season. Tulum runs 8–12% on the upside but is meaningfully more seasonal; January–April is peak, May–October is softer, and rental performance is heavily dependent on management and photography.

After expenses — typically 20–25% for professional management, plus utilities, HOA, predial and the 4% lodging tax — net yields land in the 4–7% range. Capital appreciation is the other half of the return: well-located product across the Riviera Maya has averaged 8–12% annual appreciation over the last decade, with Tulum and Bacalar pre-construction often delivering more.

We project conservative yields for every property we list — five-year cash-flow models that include realistic occupancy, an honest cost stack, and assumptions our clients can sanity-check. If you want to see what a specific property would look like as a rental, we'll send you the model.