Mexico’s World Cup cities double Airbnb supply

One major Mexican city has doubled its short-term rental inventory between 2023 and 2026 — and it happened just in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The city of Monterrey has officially experienced the sharpest expansion among Mexico’s three World Cup host cities.

At the same time, Mexico City added 6,000 units during the same period to reach 24,000 properties, a 30 percent jump, while Guadalajara climbed 50% to 9,760 listings, according to MercoPress.

The surge ahead of the June 11 tournament kickoff has shifted the market from individual operators to corporate landlords.

Real estate firms dominate new supply

In all three cities, real estate companies and developers now control the majority of active listings.

Mexico City’s top three operators, including Virtual Homes with 699 properties and Kukun with 568, account for a substantial share of the capital’s inventory.

The professionalization of the market mirrors shifts seen in U.S. cities where institutional players have replaced casual hosts.

Related: Kansas City slashes STR permits to $50 for World Cup

The conversion pace has intensified housing displacement in central neighborhoods.

In Mexico City’s Cuauhtémoc borough, between 11 percent and 20 percent of all housing units now operate as short-term rentals, according to research from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

One building in Colonia Juárez evicted at least twelve families in December 2020, then reopened three years later as a tourist operation charging 5,000 to 12,000 pesos per night.

Mexico City adopted a 2024 Tourism Law capping individual hosts at three properties, but enforcement remains unclear as the tournament approaches and corporate operators expand faster than regulatory systems can track.