Pueblo Libre vs Surco: better rental investment? (2026)
n = 1,160 Airbnb listings · 1,717 sale listings · source: urbania.pe + airroi · as of 2026-09-17 · methodology →
Pueblo Libre edges Surco on long-term net yield, about 5.1% against roughly 4.8%, and that is not enough to build a decision on. The two sit within about 0.3 points of each other. If you are buying a Lima rental from abroad, pick on price, liquidity and Airbnb upside instead of the headline number.
Surco is the cheaper entry: a median of about $1,758 per m2 against Pueblo Libre's roughly $1,798. That is about 1.8% less per square metre, or some $33 per m2. On a 70 m2 apartment the asking prices land near $123,650 in Surco and about $124,450 in Pueblo Libre. You are paying slightly more per square metre for the higher long-term yield, and the gap is thin.
The long-term figure subtracts property tax, arbitrios, rental income tax and a 3% vacancy allowance. It does not subtract mantenimiento, because in a Lima long-term let the tenant pays that. The Airbnb figure subtracts the platform fee, host-paid utilities and internet, income tax, mantenimiento, property tax and arbitrios — the host carries mantenimiento there, with no guest reimbursing it. Both sides assume you self-manage.
On Airbnb gross, Pueblo Libre runs about 6.8% to Surco's roughly 6.4%. Neither figure subtracts furnishing or fit-out, cleaning, turnover or consumables, or management fees, so treat both as the top of what you might actually keep. The Airbnb gap is wider than the long-term one, but it is still small, and it assumes you run the flat well.
My pick is Surco, narrowly. You give up a little long-term yield for a cheaper square metre, and the Airbnb difference is not large enough to override that. Pueblo Libre only wins if you believe its short-let demand holds up better than Surco's — and the data here is too thin to settle that.