Costa Rica now has nearly 49,000 active short-term rental listings, more than double the number in 2019, while international arrivals have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new study by the Center for Tourism Studies (CET). The report, prepared by CET director VÃctor Umaña and released Wednesday, counts 48,985 active listings across 243 markets on platforms including Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com.
The CET estimates those listings generated about $813.5 million in revenue in the 12 months ending in June 2026. The average nightly rate stood at $204, with average occupancy of 43.7% and annual revenue of $16,606 per listing, according to the study. Entire homes account for 83.3% of listings in the sample analyzed, and 66.4% are tied to hosts who manage more than one listing.
The CET describes the market as professionalized, noting that short-term rentals are no longer mainly occasional exchanges between private individuals. The typical property has 2.3 bedrooms and supply has grown far faster than demand. The CET estimates that short-term rental inventory rose from roughly 22,500 listings in 2019 to 48,985 by June 2026, while traditional lodging tracked by the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) grew 13.3%, from 50,264 to 56,950 rooms between 2019 and 2025.
Over a similar period, international arrivals fell 6.2%, from 3.14 million in 2019 to 2.94 million in 2025. The study calculates that the number of international visitors per available lodging unit dropped from about 43 in 2019 to 28 in 2025-2026. The CET says demand is becoming the main constraint on the market. In the 213 markets with year-on-year data, inventory was essentially flat at minus 0.2%, while revenue per listing rose 8.7%, growth the study attributes more to pricing and occupancy than to new supply.
The destination data show wide gaps in earnings. Cabo Velas, which covers Flamingo and Conchal, leads with average annual revenue of $28,800 per listing, followed by Tamarindo at $28,640 and Nosara at $26,100. Nosara also posts the highest average nightly rate, at $384, and the highest occupancy, at 53%. Jacó, with 3,786 listings, has the lowest occupancy among the main destinations, at 40%.
The Greater Metropolitan Area (GMA) has the largest single inventory, with 4,025 listings and 50% occupancy. It also has the lowest earnings, with an average nightly rate of $61 and $7,200 in annual revenue per listing, reflecting smaller units and shorter stays.
| Destination | Active listings | Avg. nightly rate | Avg. occupancy | Annual revenue per listing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Metropolitan Area | 4,025 | $61 | 50% | $7,200 |
| Jacó | 3,786 | $306 | 40% | $23,371 |
| Cahuita / Southern Caribbean | 3,779 | $126 | 46% | $13,400 |
| Tamarindo | 3,598 | $336 | 47% | $28,640 |
| Cóbano / Santa Teresa-Montezuma | 2,860 | $274 | 50% | $21,300 |
| Sardinal / Playas del Coco | 2,537 | $214 | 48% | $16,500 |
| BahÃa Ballena / Uvita | 2,184 | $217 | 46% | $17,500 |
| Quepos / Manuel Antonio | 1,902 | $259 | 47% | $25,806 |
| Cabo Velas / Flamingo-Conchal | 1,678 | $346 | 48% | $28,800 |
| Nosara | 1,537 | $384 | 53% | $26,100 |
| La Fortuna | 1,397 | $151 | 44% | $14,900 |
Source: Center for Tourism Studies (CET), based on AirDNA data for the 12 months ending June 2026.
Nationally, the CET calculates a density of 9.4 short-term rentals per 1,000 residents. That places Costa Rica slightly above Barcelona, at 9.0, and above every large city in the comparison, including Rio de Janeiro, New York and Mexico City, though well below Mallorca, Hawaii and Crete.
The study places Costa Rica in the most permissive of four regulatory categories, alongside Belize, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town. Hosts must register under Law 9742, but there are no national limits on nights rented, no zoning restrictions and no tax specific to short-term rental lodging, according to the CET comparison.
On housing, the report says short-term rentals can push up land values and residential rents in tourist destinations with limited housing supply, adding pressure on workers employed in tourism. It also notes that many coastal villas and condominiums were built specifically for visitors, so restricting them would not necessarily return units to the long-term housing market.
The CET ends by saying that effective policy would need to distinguish between homes converted into short-term rentals and properties developed for tourism from the outset. The study describes its analysis as descriptive and cautions that its market figures are third-party estimates built from public platform data, with methodologies that differ.
