According to Francisco Mijares Ortiz (head of the appraisers association of the Quintana Roo State that includes the cities of Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum) the outlook for Tulum real estate is bright in the coming 5 years.  Already in 2011, Playa del Carmen has overtaken Cancun as the most expensive property city in the Mayan Riviera, and Tulum is expected to evolve in the same direction due to a number of reasons.

Cancun, especially downtown (where no tourists go)  was somehow affected by the insecurity stemming from the narco war, while Playa del Carmen and Tulum have remained untouched so far.  But additionally, there are other factors that have played against Cancun: massiveness and overdevelopment.   The new luxury developments in Playa del Carmen are smaller buildings, with better architecture and located near the 5th Avenue, allowing for a pedestrian life and evening walks to restaurants and shops.  On the contrary, Cancun offers resort secluded life, and the need to have a car or a taxi to go dining outside.

Tulum has big advantages on both Cancun and Playa del Carmen.  As it is in its early development, it has the chance of an orderly growth, it has less poverty in the outskirts and it is much more eco-friendly.  Beaches are well preserved as no construction is allowed on the beachfront (only the existing thatched roof cabanas).  Since the beachfront will be preserved, all the development will have to be inland, making sure the beaches will remain pristine.

The construction of the Tulum Airport (Mayan Riviera Airport) will be another factor pushing up the Tulum real estate prices.  Nowadays, it takes some 90 minutes to drive from the closest airport (Cancun) to Tulum.  The airport is expected to start operating in 2013.

There are some some main 3 areas of real estate development in Tulum: Aldea Zama, the lots around Kukulkan Avenue and the jungle developments.

Aldea Zama is a big development between the current Tulum downtown and the beach.  It boasts good infrastructure and cared architecture and offers both commercial and residential lots.  Aldea Zama’s goal is to replace the existing Tulum downtown for the main commercial activity (restaurants, supermarkets, banks, etc) and become the “new Tulum town”.   The area around the new Kukulkan avenue offers big urban lots, in a new part of the Tulum town, closer to a new access to the beach.  To the west of the Cancun-Tulum highway there are many new development projects offering bigger lots (2-4 acres) in a jungle surrounding.  Some of these projects are “green” and have strict eco-friendly regulations.  Some of the most know projects are Vive Riviera Maya and Los Arboles Tulum.

All the 3 areas present high appreciation potential most certainly become good investments if bought early enough.