A Medellín or Bogotá apartment bought as a Colombia real estate investment grosses about 7% a year. At Colombia Desk, we work for foreign buyers in both cities, and the first question we ask an investor is whether the building lets owners rent for under 30 days. After management fees and one empty month, the return drops to about 5% to 6%, before property tax and income tax.
Yes, US citizens and other foreigners can buy and rent out property in Colombia on a passport. The constitution gives foreigners the same civil rights as Colombians, including ownership, and you do not need a visa or residency to buy. You do need a clean title study, money that enters through the official exchange market, and a realistic view of the rent.
What Colombia Real Estate Investment Yields in 2026
Medellín apartments grossed an average 6.88% a year in Q3 2026, and Bogotá apartments grossed 7.67%, according to Global Property Guide. Those figures divide a year of asking rent by the asking price, using listings on local portals such as Metrocuadrado. The national average was 7.06%.
| Area (Q3 2026) | Median asking price | Monthly rent | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Poblado, 1-bedroom | USD 250,000 | USD 1,440 | 6.91% |
| Laureles, 1-bedroom | USD 155,500 | USD 900 | 6.95% |
| Medellín average (all sizes) | Varies by size | Varies by size | 6.88% |
| Chapinero, 1-bedroom | USD 112,200 | USD 670 | 7.17% |
| Usaquén, 1-bedroom | USD 112,200 | USD 770 | 8.24% |
| Bogotá average (all sizes) | Varies by size | Varies by size | 7.67% |
Bogotá one-bedrooms cost less than half of an El Poblado one-bedroom and still yield more. Within Medellín, the cheaper Laureles unit earns the same percentage as the El Poblado unit. The extra money for El Poblado buys location without raising the return.
These are asking figures, and final prices and signed rents can come in lower. Treat them as a ceiling. The house prices in Colombia guide has price-per-square-meter figures by neighborhood.
Net Yield Comes Out About 1.5 to 2 Points Lower
Global Property Guide states that net yields typically run 1.5 to 2 percentage points below its gross figures. On the Laureles one-bedroom, let long term, the gap works out like this:
- Gross rent: USD 900 a month, or USD 10,800 a year.
- Management at 10% of rent plus 19% value-added tax (VAT), the rate an expert quoted to Metrocuadrado for a rental administration mandate: about USD 1,285 a year.
- One empty month between tenants: USD 900.
- What is left: about USD 8,615, or 5.5% of the USD 155,500 price.
That 5.5% still has to cover repairs, Colombian income tax on the rent, and property tax (predial). In Medellín, predial runs roughly 0.5% to 1.6% of the cadastral value a year. Closing costs also raise what you paid for the apartment. Registration tax alone is 1% of the deed value in Antioquia and in Bogotá, and the closing costs guide adds up the notary and registry fees.
Currency moves can matter as much as the rent. The official exchange rate ran from about COP 3,313 to COP 3,194 per dollar in the first two weeks of October 2026 alone. Your tenant pays in pesos, so a 5% swing in the peso moves your dollar income by about 5%.
The Airbnb Rules That Decide Short-Term Income
Renting an apartment for stays under 30 days counts as tourist housing (vivienda turística) under Ley 2068 of 2020. The owner or operator must hold an active Registro Nacional de Turismo (RNT). Stays of 30 days or more are ordinary housing leases and generally do not need one. Airbnb and other platforms must let hosts display their RNT number, and they are liable to guests for listing hosts without an active one.
Each building’s bylaws can block what the city allows. In a building under propiedad horizontal (the condominium regime for apartment buildings), short stays need prior authorization in the building’s bylaws (reglamento), registered at the property registry. The building administrator must report unauthorized or non-RNT units to the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC), or face a fine of up to 3 monthly minimum wages. A building whose bylaws do not authorize tourist rentals has, in effect, banned them.
The Alcaldía de Medellín lists the full set of requirements:
- an RNT number
- authorization in the bylaws, recorded in the deed
- land-use compatibility, which you can check on the city’s Mapgis map or at a curaduría
- an updated commercial registration
- an opening notice to the police
- sanitary and environmental compliance
Penalties reach up to 2,000 monthly minimum wages, temporary closure, and loss of the RNT for up to five years. Between 2024 and September 2026 the city ran 408 inspections and temporarily suspended 105 tourist homes, Minuto30 reported. Registered tourist-housing providers in Medellín rose from 521 in 2019 to 8,322 in 2026.
Medellín has not banned Airbnb. Its land-use plan review is weighing tighter rules for short stays, but nothing had been adopted as of mid-September 2026. Bills to change how buildings approve short rentals are also pending.
How We Check a Building Before You Make an Offer
When we vet a building for an investor, we ask for the registered bylaws and read the use clause before anyone talks price. A listing that says “Airbnb friendly” is a sales line, and the bylaws are the legal answer. We also ask the building administrator how many units hold an RNT. A high count shows the owners’ assembly already accepts short stays.
If you want short-term income, buy where the bylaws already allow it. Changing them later means winning an owners’ assembly vote, and a new buyer rarely has the votes. Our Medellín buyer’s concierge pulls the bylaws, the land-use check and the title study for you before you sign a promesa.
Long-Term Lease or Short-Term Rental
A long-term lease earns less per night but costs far less to run. This table compares the two strategies on the same apartment.
| Factor | Long-term lease (30+ days) | Short-term rental (under 30 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | None beyond the lease | RNT, bylaws approval, land-use check |
| Management fee | About 8% to 10% of rent plus VAT | 10% to 30% of bookings, and higher at premium firms |
| Furnishing | Optional | Required, plus linens and supplies |
| Legal risk | Low | Fines up to 2,000 minimum wages if non-compliant |
| Best for | Owners who want steady income from abroad | Owners in an authorized building who will track bookings |
Short-term management figures come from Airbtics, a rental-analytics firm, and vary widely by service level. Our property management guide explains what each fee covers and what the contract should say.
Register the Money So You Can Take It Back Out
A non-resident’s property purchase counts as foreign direct investment, and the money must come through Colombia’s official exchange market, according to Banco de la República. When the bank converts your dollars, its exchange declaration doubles as the investment registration. That registration gives you the legal right to send rent profits and sale proceeds back home.
The property route to the Colombia investor visa relies on the same registration. The visa needs a property worth at least 350 monthly minimum wages. In 2026 that is COP 612,816,750, about USD 192,000. The Laureles median one-bedroom at USD 155,500 falls short. The El Poblado median at USD 250,000 clears it. If the visa is part of your plan, size the purchase for it from the start. Our guide to sending money to buy property covers the transfer itself.
Who Should Skip a Colombian Rental Property
A Colombian rental apartment is a poor fit if you need the property to pay a mortgage. Colombian banks lend almost nothing to non-resident foreigners. The purchase is usually all cash, so your return is the rental yield alone.
It is also a poor fit if you are counting on Airbnb income in a building you have not checked. Without bylaw approval for short stays, you are left with a long-term lease at about 5% to 6% net.
Our view would change if Medellín’s land-use review restricts short stays in residential complexes. That would cut short-term income in many towers. A sharp fall in the peso would also change it, because every rent payment would be worth fewer dollars. Higher yields in Global Property Guide’s data, or a lending product for non-resident foreigners, would make the numbers more attractive.
Start With the Building and the Numbers
Pick two or three buildings, get their bylaws and their administración (monthly building fee), and run the net yield on each with the four-step method for the Laureles example. Then use the closing cost calculator to add purchase costs to the price before you compare any Colombia real estate investment against what the same money earns at home.