Pueblo Libre vs San Miguel: better rental investment? (2026)
n = 1,434 Airbnb listings · 724 sale listings · source: urbania.pe + airroi · as of 2026-09-17 · methodology →
San Miguel takes it on both headline numbers, and by so little that neither should decide your purchase. Long-term net yield is roughly 5.3% against Pueblo Libre's 5.1%, and on Airbnb the gross figures sit at about 7.0% against 6.8%. That is a spread of about 0.3 points on each side. If you are buying a Lima rental to live off the yield, this pair is a coin toss dressed up as a comparison.
The long-term figure is net: it subtracts property tax, arbitrios, rental income tax and a 3% vacancy allowance. It does not subtract mantenimiento, because in a long-term let here the tenant pays that, not you. The Airbnb figure subtracts the platform fee, host-paid utilities and internet, income tax, mantenimiento, property tax and arbitrios. Neither figure subtracts furnishing, cleaning, turnover or management fees — you self-manage on both sides, so those are your hours, not a line in the model.
Where the two actually separate is the entry price. Pueblo Libre sells for a median of about $1,800 per m2; San Miguel for about $1,720. Per square metre San Miguel is roughly 4.9% cheaper, about $88 less. On a 70 m2 apartment that is the difference between about $124,400 and about $120,200 — you pay less for the district that also yields slightly more.
So the pick is San Miguel, and not because of the yield. You buy in cheaper, you collect a marginally better net return, and the Airbnb ceiling is a touch higher if you ever want it. Pueblo Libre is the more established address and may hold its resale better; that is the trade you are making, and the data here is too thin to price it. What I would not do is pay the Pueblo Libre premium for a 0.3-point yield gap that will vanish the first time a tenant leaves.
Two caveats worth stating plainly. These are district medians, and a specific building on a bad block can underperform its district by more than the gap between these two. And the Airbnb numbers are gross — the net Airbnb figure is not in this data, so treat the 6.8% and 7.0% as a ceiling, not a forecast. Not investment advice.