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Why are Families Moving to Playa del Carmen, Mexico? Real Estate Edition

Jan 7, 2026 | Private List update

Families continue to leave the West behind

Why?

  • High cost of living
  • In some jurisdictions, a lack of freedom to educate one’s children
  • Rising social tension
  • Weather (in many jurisdictions)
  • Plan B preparation and working towards another citizenship

Playa del Carmen, located in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, is one destination that Western families increasingly call home. In this video with Luigi, we drive around a beautiful community with diverse amenities like swimming pools, gated security, a private school and more. It’s affordable luxury at a fraction of the cost of what a similar community would run in Western countries.

https://youtu.be/FweCgOUwyhE?si=dKYaR_KIv6CN3nCe

The Market in Riviera Maya has slowed down

After a huge surge during Covid, the market is now taking a break. Liquidity is not ideal, so there are some opportunities for buyers. But do note that rental yields overall have declined. In many ways Playa del Carmen is now a mature market and the local infrastructure continues to improve. 

As for Tulum, the crash has been severe due to oversupply. It’ll take a long time for the market there to recover. 

These two cities have very different dynamics.

Mexico is a great option

My children were born in Mexico. They are Mexican by birth and thanks to them my whole family received permanent residency. I’m very glad to have full access to this massive market of 130+ million people. Mexico has its flaws (many, frankly) but it remains a fantastic Plan B or even Plan A for a host of reasons.

Feel free to:

To a World of Opportunities,

The Wandering Investor.

Services in Mexico:

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If you want to read more such articles on other real estate markets in the world, go to the bottom of my International Real Estate Services page.

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Transcript of “Why are Families Moving to Playa del Carmen, Mexico? Real Estate Edition”

LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello, Ladislas Maurice of The Wandering Investor. Today we are in Playa del Carmen in Mexico together with Luigi and we’ll be discussing why families are moving to Playa del Carmen and we’ll look at a gated community that has effectively everything, right?

LUIGI: Everything from international school, hospital, parks, um, a little plaza. It has a cenote, if you’re not familiar with a cenote, that’s underground water uh system. Uh, there’s so much. A lot of green areas. It’s a great place for people to, uh, to enjoy with as a family. Kids could ride their bikes freely like we used to back in the day.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So really the objective here is not to show great return on investments and rental yields, etc, but it’s about demonstrating the sort of lifestyle that families can have here in Mexico. Objectively very affordable prices.

Affordability of Playa del Carmen

LADISLAS MAURICE: Uh, so we’ll go check out some housing a bit later, but first, let’s just look at the amenities because it really, really is beautiful. And when you compare the price point and even the HOA that you pay here on a monthly basis, compared to what you can get in North America, it’s not surprising that so many people are are moving to such places.

LUIGI: Yeah, and especially when you drive in here. I mean, look at all the greenery. First of all, the roads are beautifully paved. They leave a lot of green areas. All the cable and internet, everything is underground. The only thing that’s above ground is just these beautiful lights. So in the evening, it’s really beautiful.

Condo amenities in Playa del Carmen

LUIGI: Yeah, so up here, actually within this community, you also have a clubhouse. So there’s a swimming pool, there’s a games area, there’s a gym, and you have access to these amenities. There’s also like a multi-purpose room that you can rent out if you have like a kids’ birthday party or you want to have a meeting, uh, and so on. We we’ll go in there afterwards, but that’s only for residents. So people who are living here can get into that clubhouse.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So how how big is this community?

LUIGI: I think it’s 16 hectares, I believe.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So it’s huge.

LUIGI: Is that I believe that’s how many, it might be the larger.

LADISLAS MAURICE: And the way it works is there have been sub developers within the community.

LUIGI: That’s right. So there’s huge a community and then there are all these plots of land that developers have purchased and everybody or different developers have their their style and and are doing their own development. Some are doing condos, some are doing homes, and then there’s the commercial developers that are doing plazas, commercial spaces, hospitals, uh schools, and so on and so forth. And that’s how it works. You have everything here. And the beautiful thing about it is the sidewalks are really big. You have a running track. If you wanted to just have your kid jump on a bike and and ride their bike in their own little gate.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So so you can’t feed. So there are all these like.

LUIGI: Yeah, there’s lots of animals. So they prefer that you don’t feed the animals. Obviously, then the animals start to get used to coming around and they.
So up here on the right, you can’t see there’s so many trees. That’s what I love about this place.

International schools in Playa del Carmen

LUIGI: But there’s a beautiful school that was just completed. So this is the international school. You’ll see the kids playground here. It’s a very large building. And so here it’s great for the kids because the kids can learn Spanish. They’re with or amongst many kids from different cultures.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, so this is the international school.

LUIGI: Yeah, which is great. So you can learn different languages. Kids will be exposed to different languages. You have German, you have French, you have English.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Laurea World School. Okay. And how much would a school like this cost roughly?

LUIGI: Uh, in Mayakoba, I mean, the school’s pretty much range between what, is it 4,000 to 8,000 pesos a month, I think around here.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So $200 to $400 a month roughly for schools, which is pretty standard here in the Riviera Maya. Um, so this is nice. This means the kids can actually cycle home. They can walk..

LUIGI: Walk for lunch, come back. Yeah.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Within, all within the gated community with security all around.

LUIGI: That’s right.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Look, it’s in terms of education standards, um, don’t expect Ivy League, you know, let’s let’s be clear. Um, the the schools are are decent here, but that’s it. They’re they’re decent, they’re fine, uh, but just don’t expect, you know, world-beating education. Um, really the focus is on the fact that the kids can learn Spanish, they have a lot of free time, it’s safe, they play with other kids, they’re in a nice community, they live overseas, they get experience. That’s the value add, I would say, rather than pure academic excellence.

LUIGI: Inside this community, there’s going to be an internal bus system to take you from to different directions because it is a big community. So, uh, if you need to catch a bus and take it to the front gate, for those who need to go to work and need to go up to the front gate and catch the the public system out there as well. Uh, there’s always new construction. There’s a 7-Eleven that just opened up here. This is one of several. Look at all these towers going up. All these condos.
It’s amazing to to think that a few years ago, nothing was here. This is all within the last several years.

LADISLAS MAURICE: And these are the bus stops right here.

LUIGI: Yeah, these are going to be the bus stops. Again, if you move here and you don’t have a car right away, you can still move around.

LADISLAS MAURICE: If you don’t have a car and you move here, it’ll be hot really quickly cuz you know, I wouldn’t want to be there waiting for the bus there.

LUIGI: Yeah, of course, yeah, yeah.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So rather get something cheaper and stay in town. But it’s pretty affordable. I mean, there are places starting from what, $100,000 and some of the more affordable developments here.

LUIGI: And inside here, yeah, some of the condos are about $100,000. And then it goes up from that. Go all the way up to you know, even a million dollar home in here if you would like. So it’s a good mix.

LUIGI: But what I really love about this community too is the sidewalks are well, are just unbelievably maintained. The greenery, the roads, everything is well kept. The the lighting in the evening, it’s very safe to walk around here. So, it’s just a a beautiful place. You walk out and you just feel beautiful. You feel like you’re living in a great, well-kept, maintained community. And we just we just he would just drove by a foreigner and he’s waving at us saying, hello.

LADISLAS MAURICE: He look like a very sunburned British guy.

LUIGI: Yeah. But I mean, he’s waving and saying hello and that’s the thing is inside here people walk by you and say hello and it’s a nice community feel.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So effectively nice sidewalks, not nice roads with the Mexican government is not able to deliver. The private sector can.

LUIGI: Yeah, so it’s really nice.

LADISLAS MAURICE: These roads are really nice. I actually taught my mother-in-law how to drive here a few years ago. She still can’t drive, but that’s a different topic.

Healthcare in Playa del Carmen

LUIGI: So, there was and I do believe there still is plans for the for a hospital. There was actually plans for a couple hospitals. So they did start construction uh for one hospital up here. Now, it seems like the construction is stopped for the moment. So, I’m not sure what’s happening or what the plans are.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, there were clearly plans.

LUIGI: Big, it’s a big space as well.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Healthcare and medical tourism. Yeah, construction has stopped. So it’s a bit hard to put a timeline on this. But the reality is um healthcare tourism in Mexico is is booming. Um Americans just come here in droves for obvious reasons.

Affordable gated communities in Playa del Carmen

LADISLAS MAURICE: So what we saw a bit earlier were the entrances to the nicer developments. We’re going to go check out a villa there and these are the more affordable developments, right?

LUIGI: Yeah, so these are more affordable condominium projects. These are very affordable, you know, from 100 to 150,000. These are, you know, two-bedroom condos. You can even get some three bedrooms. Very busy community around here. So these get rented out. So if anybody were to invest in one of these, they would rent them out long term. This is all long-term uh rental contracts out here. Families that want to live about here.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So you’ll find a lot of the Mexican middle and upper class living in these developments.

LUIGI: Yeah, so we’re. And it’s great for them. It’s great for the kids. Because each one of these…

LADISLAS MAURICE: They have cute play areas, parks.

LUIGI: Yeah, they have play areas. So each development has their own play area and amenity within their gated community. And then there’s some amenities when you when you come out of the gated community. And there’s a lot of walking trails and things like that. And like I just mentioned, the families love it because there’s pools, there’s the parks, and they can be in their condo and they can look down at the pool and keep an eye on their child.

Yeah, here. So here’s another 7-Eleven. So there’s several 7-Elevens in here. And then right after the 7-Eleven, for those of you who may not know, Oxxo is the big convenience store chain in Mexico. And so right after the 7-Eleven, you have an Oxxo. And in this little plaza, not only do you have an Oxxo, you have a Laundry Mart, you have a a dance school, or like a a music school. Um, so there’s a little snack bar.

LADISLAS MAURICE: And some like pet store. So.

LUIGI: Yeah, pet store, which everybody here has pets. So, it’s important to have that.

LADISLAS MAURICE: I think it says a lot about the demographics.

LUIGI: So we just passed another plaza with a vet, uh, you know, coffee shop, and here there’s even more commercial. So it’s all going to be commercial down here and those are condos on the other side.

So we just drove into the main gate, the main security gate. And then within this big community, there are sub communities with their own private entrance and their own private security. And so we’re about to go into this private entrance, in this private community, within this large community. And in here, we’re going to be a see a house, an example of a house. You need a a decal to be able to get in and so now we’re inside this gated community within the large gated community. And in here, there’s all these beautiful homes.

Tour of a $400k condo in Playa del Carmen

LUIGI: All right, so this is an example. So this is actually a showroom from this uh developer. So this size lot, this is 163 square meters. And the construction is just under 300 square meters of construction. So it’s a fair…

LADISLAS MAURICE: So about 3,000 square feet.

LUIGI: Right, so it’s it’s a nice big size home. This is going for about $400,000 not furnished. Not furnished, it does include the hood fan for the stove, it does include the stove, it does include the cooktop. It includes the closets and the air conditioning, but you know, the couches and all the major furniture, that’s not included.
Yeah, so this is it. So high ceilings. It’s nice, you know, it’s cool. It’s spacious. It’s an open concept. So you have marble. I mean, they they do a good job.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Because this is the showroom. I am grabbing a beer.

LUIGI: Oh, of course. Yeah, yeah. I’m not. No, that just makes me tired. water for me here.

LADISLAS MAURICE: He’s driving. I’m driving, yeah.

LUIGI: But you have a huge sink. I mean, just there’s it’s very, very comfortable house. Um, this what it would look like if you, you know, wanted to get furniture. You can see the size how much of a dining room table you can put in here. So very family oriented.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. So, look, I don’t I don’t want this to turn into, you know, a property viewing, etcetera. I think the main point out of this video is imagine you are sitting in Toronto or you’re sitting in Boston in some random suburb. Compare $400,000 USD, what it gets you back home, probably a a two-bedroom condo if you’re lucky, or a a very non-descript house in a faraway suburb, or this. And then you have your own pool.

HOA fees in Playa del Carmen communities

LADISLAS MAURICE: So what’s the HOA for this place?

LUIGI: Yeah, I was just going to mention, so the HOA here is 1,700 pesos a month, which is, you know, what, $80, $85 a month. And that includes the maintenance for the the uh private community that this house is in. It also includes the the general maintenance for the main entrance of the large community. And it includes also the maintenance for the clubhouse. So the owners in this residence also have access to the clubhouse, which has the pool and the and the tennis courts and so on and so on. And that’s all for $80, $85 a month.

LADISLAS MAURICE: This is ridiculous, right? So, just again, picture the life you could have here. So this is not I wouldn’t buy this house to buy to then rent it out for rental income, etcetera. That’s not the play. The play really is lifestyle and picturing how much of an upgrade you can get. It’s easy to get residency in Mexico. There are many ways to obtain residency in Mexico. There’s a link below with more information on this. And taxes in Mexico are nominally high, but, um, there are also so many different tax regimes that you can use to minimize your taxes as well. So, for many people, it’s very feasible to come here, have a better lifestyle, lower your taxes, um, and just, you know, and and have much nicer housing.

LUIGI: Right. Your your money goes a lot further. That’s for sure.
Yeah, so up here, there’s three bedrooms. Each bedroom has their own en suite. And then you have the half bathroom downstairs. So really it’s a three and a half bath, three bedroom. Great space, perfect for a family.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Very nice. And again, I love the high ceilings.

LUIGI: Yeah. They really do a good job with the high ceilings and and the closet space and wood everywhere. And I also like the fact that there’s balconies and greenery. So, really comfortable.

Who is moving to Playa del Carmen?

LADISLAS MAURICE: So, what what type of people are buying these homes?

LUIGI: Well, actually right now, we’re seeing a lot of Canadians moving here, buying in these types of communities. Americans as well, and then we have some Europeans. But there’s a lot of a lot of Canadians that are that are coming here with their families.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, I mean, it makes sense. Uh Canada is increasingly problematic. Um, so, yeah, people are moving here. I totally understand.
So, yeah, that’s just shows that if you move here, you know, your kid won’t be the only white kid at the school wondering, you know, why his parents took him to Mexico and, you know, having problems adapting. He’ll be around with a lot of foreign kids, a lot of Mexican kids. It’ll be very international. He’ll speak English, he’ll speak Spanish. So, from that point of view, it’s it’s really positive.

LUIGI: Right. Absolutely. And actually, there’s a lot of Canadians, a lot of Canadian families coming to this community. There’s a lot of Americans and even some Europeans that are starting to move their families out here.

LADISLAS MAURICE: I’d say there are different types of people moving to such communities. So, one would be the upper middle and upper class Mexicans. And there there’s a lot of business activity here in the Riviera Maya. The place is booming. I mean, the just the city of Playa del Carmen grew from 20,000 when you first came here, right?

LUIGI: Right. In the last 20, 25 years from 20,000, we’re close to what, 400,000.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah. So So between 300 and 400,000 people now. So it’s really booming. So there’s a lot of business activity. Then there are a lot of Mexicans from the US that are buying places here in Mexico. A lot of Americans, uh because they see that for again $400,000, if you love the the gated community feel, you’re not going to get this for $400,000 with such amenities in the US with an HOA of $90 a month.

LUIGI: Impossible.

LADISLAS MAURICE: That’s not going to happen. Um, then Canadians, they’re moving here for obvious reasons. I mean, I think why Canadians are leaving Canada would be a whole video onto itself.

LUIGI: Absolutely.

LADISLAS MAURICE: A lot of Western Europeans also like these gated communities. Why? Because it’s a new concept. It doesn’t really exist in Western Europe. It’s not a thing. So, they’re easily wowed by all the amenities and how green and lush it is because these things just don’t exist back home. And then a lot of Russians, Ukrainians, and Kazakhs are moving to this one particularly because of birth tourism. So, they come here, they have a kid, the kid gets Mexican citizenship, and then they stay for two, three years, get their citizenship, and then go back to wherever they came from, but then they have a better passport to travel around. This is actually a big segment here in this particular community.

Birth tourism in Mexico

LADISLAS MAURICE: And birth tourism is booming in Mexico, and not just amongst Eastern Europeans, but a lot of Western Europeans that want a plan B. Um, a lot of North Americans as well that see that, hey, you know, just by having your kid in Mexico, you get that plan B. The kid gets an extra citizenship. So this is also a big industry in in this part of the in this part of Mexico.

LUIGI: Absolutely. And then also one thing to mention about this community is if you’re looking for all the services, they’re very close by. So the beach is 5 to 7 minutes away. You have three major supermarkets on Walmart, Soriana, Chedraui all within driving distance. You’re about 15 minutes from downtown Playa. So, it has everything that a family would want in terms of services in this gated community and close to the gated community. So.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, so don’t buy this as for rental income. You buy this because you want a lifestyle upgrade. Let’s put it this way. Uh, you can also potentially lower your taxes. You can increase your level of freedom. There’s a lot of freedom in many respects in Mexico, and you want to give your kids an experience growing up overseas with international kids learning a second language. So there are a lot of upsides to to moving here.

LUIGI: Absolutely. And that’s it.

LADISLAS MAURICE: And you’ve you’ve helped a lot of people with this process, right?

LUIGI: Lots, lots of people come through, uh, you know, and ask us to to help them relocate. And I’ve seen it myself. I learned a language. I learned Spanish when I moved here. So, uh, it’s a great experience.

How to contact Luigi

LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. So, I wrote a whole report on the real estate market here in Playa del Carmen, the interesting neighborhoods, the neighborhoods you should avoid, some key learnings. There’s a link below. And if you want to get in touch with Luigi, there is also a link below. Luigi, thank you very much.

LUIGI: Thank you. Appreciate it.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Make sure to download my free ebook, 12 mistakes to avoid when investing in international real estate, which you can find on my website, link below, and feel free to follow me on Instagram @thewanderinginvestor. I look forward to hearing from you.

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