Sale and rent listings were re-scraped on 2026-10-20 — asking prices, that day.
Airbnb figures are a monthly aggregate for 2026-10: nightly rates and occupancy measured across that month, not that day. Lima only, and asking prices throughout — no transaction data exists for this market.
Long-term wins here, and not by a hair: the net long-term yield of about 5.2% beats the net Airbnb figure of roughly 4.2%, roughly 1.2 times over. The gross Airbnb number of about 6.7% is the one that gets quoted, and it is the one that flatters. Only an owner who runs the flat well enough to approach that top-quartile net of about 6.2% makes Airbnb worth the extra work, and most do not.
Long-term · net · higher return
5.2%
Airbnb · gross
6.9%
What San Miguel is
San Miguel sits on Lima's western coast — a family-oriented residential district with a big shopping centre, a long seafront, and universities nearby. Affordable and steady, it leans toward family and student long-term rentals. Who buys here: investors after low entry prices and dependable local demand rather than tourist income.
80 long-term listings mapped · 1000 Airbnb listings tracked here, not plotted. Pins are approximate; verify any specific address.
Long-term rental
n = 79 rent comps · source: urbania.pe
Median sale price
$1,720/m²
Median rent
$9.2/m²·mo
Net yield, self-managed
5.2%
Net ofpredial · arbitrios · 3% vacancy · 5% income tax,
with 5% purchase costs on the price base and no management fee — self-managed.
No mantenimiento: in a Lima long-term let the tenant pays it, and it was never inside the advertised rent either.
Vacancy is the one figure here we chose rather than measured.
What comes out, line by line →
The long-term figure nets about 5.2% after property tax, arbitrios, rental income tax and a vacancy allowance; the tenant pays mantenimiento, so that does not come off. On a typical apartment near $120,000 that is the return you can underwrite without doing much of anything.
Airbnb / short-term
n = 1000 listings · source: our Lima census
Average nightly rate
$50
Occupancy
45%
Gross yield, before short-let costs
6.9%
Net of3% platform fee · utilities & internet (a real bill, not a % of revenue) · mantenimiento,
plus predial, arbitrios and 5% income tax, on the same price base, and no management fee — self-managed.
Mantenimiento sits here and not on the long-term side: the host pays it every month and no guest reimburses them.
Furnishing is left out as one-time capital, which flatters this figure slightly.
The gross yield above is before all of it. Empty nights need no allowance here: they sit inside the measured occupancy.
What comes out, line by line →
What the spread looks like
Typical listing
4.4%
Top quarter, by what they earn
6.3%
Long-term, for comparison
5.2%
Long-term returns cluster tightly across Lima; Airbnb returns do not. The middle listing earns 4.4%; the top quarter earns 6.3% — measured on both axes at once, each listing’s own nightly rate times its own occupancy. How the top quarter is built, and its two limits →
Airbnb shows about 6.7% gross, but that is before the platform fee, host-paid utilities and internet, income tax, mantenimiento, property tax and arbitrios. Once those are taken off, the net lands near 4.2%, on an average daily rate of about $50 and occupancy near 45%.
Occupancy counts near-term nights only: a calendar read months ahead shows nights nobody has booked yet. Neither yield carries repairs, insurance or a refurbishment reserve — no yield on this site does, on either side. Why, and what it means for the figure →
Long-term or Airbnb? The verdict
Factor
Long-term
Airbnb
Headline return
5.2% net
4.4% net
Effort
Passive
Active
Income stability
Steady
Seasonal
Regulatory risk
Low
Rising
The typical Lima Airbnb earns less than a long-term tenant. The top quarter earns more.The weekly numbers behind that — free, one email a week.
By apartment size
Returns differ a lot by unit size. Net yields per bedroom count — after each strategy's own costs, the same model as the figures above, so the table agrees with the headline:
Common amenitiesLavandería, Ascensor, Parrilla, Terraza
Market data as of2026-10-20
Before you buy: Check the building's HOA, quoted near $60 a month, and confirm who actually pays it in your contract, because that line moves the long-term case more than the yield table suggests. Also look at what comparable flats in the same block actually rent for, since the district's rents are not uniform.
Is Airbnb or long-term rental better in San Miguel?
Long-term wins in San Miguel: about 5.2% net long-term versus roughly 6.9% gross on Airbnb.
How much does an apartment cost in San Miguel?
About $1,720/m² — roughly $120,400 for a typical 70 m² apartment.
What rental yield can you earn in San Miguel?
Around 5.2% net long-term after costs, or about 6.9% gross on Airbnb.
Lima Property Investor Weekly · free
In San Miguel, Airbnb nets 4.4% after costs. A long-term tenant nets 5.2%.
Not a hunch — we price every listed apartment in eight districts both ways, self-managed, after tax, HOA and real occupancy. One email a week: what moved, which listings the numbers actually favour, and where the consensus looks wrong.