2015 Update: Furnished Apartment Rental Costs in Medellín

Editors note: this article was updated in May 2019 with new prices.

Last month we looked at updated costs of renting unfurnished apartments in Medellín and this is a follow-on report that looks at updated furnished apartment rental costs in Medellín.

To more accurately answer the question about what the actual furnished apartment rental costs currently are in Medellín, with the help of my Colombian wife, we recently surveyed the rental costs of 300 available furnished apartments in several neighborhoods in Medellín.

We only included apartments that have hot water and Wifi available.   Several hundred apartments in Medellín are listed on the Airbnb site. We did not include apartments on the Airbnb site in our survey if they did not have positive ratings, as they are more risky to rent.

Without a surprise most of the furnished apartments we found in Medellín are located in El Poblado – 81% of the furnished apartments we surveyed this year were found in El Poblado.

There are three main websites to find furnished apartment rentals in Medellín

• Airbnb – has several hundred furnished apartments in Medellín listed, but many of these have no ratings.
• Casacol – has >100 furnished apartments in Medellín listed.
• The Apartment Medellín – has many apartments listed.

Some furnished apartments are listed on one of the rental company websites as well as the Airbnb site. If an apartment is listed on more than one website we only included it once in our survey.

We also looked for furnished apartments on some Spanish language websites that cater to Colombians for our survey. However, be careful of apartments on Spanish language sites, some have not that many furnishings, some do not have hot water and some do not have Wifi.

Most furnished apartment rentals in Medellín are priced in U.S. dollars. For apartment rentals priced in pesos we used the exchange rate of 3,171 pesos to the U.S. dollar.

Some Initial Survey Findings

Pricing for some furnished apartments in Medellín increases during the popular times of the year such as Christmas, New Years and Feria de las Flores (the Medellín flower festival). We used the low season rental prices in our survey.

Most furnished apartment rentals in Medellín have a minimum rental period of at least 2-3 days. But many furnished apartments we looked at in Medellín have a minimum rental period of 30 days (26% of the apartments surveyed).

For apartments with both daily and monthly rates, the longer-term monthly rate usually reflects a discount to the daily rate.

Most furnished apartment rentals in Medellín require a security deposit; 83% of the apartments we surveyed required a security deposit. The security deposit charges ranged from $95 to $1,500 and averaged $277.

Many furnished apartment rentals also require a cleaning fee; 75% of the apartments we surveyed had a cleaning fee listed. The cleaning fee ranged from $6 to $200 and averaged $28.

We didn’t include security deposits or cleaning fees in our below rental cost survey results.

El Poblado Furnished Apartments

El Poblado is the most popular neighborhood for foreigners living in or visiting Medellín. It is the most upscale neighborhood in the city and is where the most hotels and furnished apartments catering to foreigners are located.

In my first few visits to Medellín, I rented furnished apartments in El Poblado.

El Poblado is primarily an Estrato 6 neighborhood with 74 percent of the households rated at Estrato 6. It is also where the most expensive real estate and most expensive apartment rentals in the city are located.

El Poblado survey of 243 furnished apartment rentals results:

• 94 of the 243 apartments surveyed in El Poblado had a 30-day minimum rental.
• 103 apartments were 1-bedroom or studios with rents ranging from $32 to $225 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $628 to $5,100 per month.
• 80 apartments were 2-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $50 to $219 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $882 to $8,100 per month.
• 41 apartments were 3-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $60 to $385 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $990 to $7,970 per month.
• 19 apartments were 4-bedroom to 8-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $195 to $839 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $1,500 to $19,470 per month.

Laureles-Estadio Furnished Apartments

Laureles-Estadio is perhaps the second-most popular neighborhood for foreigners living in Medellín. It is primarily a residential neighborhood with many areas with tree-lined streets and fewer high-rise apartments than are found in El Poblado.

Laureles-Estadio is primarily an Estrato 4/5 neighborhood with 99 percent of the households rated at Estrato 4 or 5.

Laureles-Estadio survey of 28 furnished apartment rentals results:

• None of the 28 apartments surveyed in Laureles-Estadio had a 30-day minimum rental.
• 15 apartments were 1-bedroom or studios with rents ranging from $28 to $65 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $441 to $1,487 per month.
• Seven apartments were 2-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $42 to $86 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $609 to $2,245 per month.
• Six apartments were 3-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $41 to $65 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $780 to $1,950 per month.

Furnished Apartment Costs in Other Neighborhoods

Our survey also found a few furnished apartments in Envigado, Belén and La Candelaria (El Centro) with a summary of these results as follows:

Envigado is another popular neighborhood for foreigners living in Medellín. It is less commercial than El Poblado and like Laureles-Estadio has many areas with tree-lined streets and fewer high-rise apartments than are found in El Poblado.

Envigado survey of 14 furnished apartment rentals results:

• Three of the 14 apartments surveyed in Envigado had a 30-day minimum rental.
• Six apartments were 1-bedroom or studios with rents ranging from $47 to $90 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $897 to $2,700 per month.
• Three apartments were 2-bedroom apartments with monthly rents ranging from $986 to $1,700 per one. Only one 2-bedroom apartment had a daily rate, which was $54 per day.
• Three apartments were 3-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $36 to $103 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $687 to $2,472 per month.
• Two apartments were 4-bedroom with daily rates of $250 and $443 and monthly rates of $5,700 and $12,400 per month.

Belén is a neighborhood that is increasing in popularity for foreigners living in Medellín. Belén is where I lived for over nearly four years in three different barrios (Fatima, Loma de Los Bernal and Los Alpes)

Belén is more of a working-class community with 98 percent of housing in Estrado 2 to 5 and only 2 percent in Estrato 1.

Belén survey of eight furnished apartment rentals results:

• None of the eight apartments surveyed in Belén had a 30-day minimum rental.
• One of the apartments was a 1-bedroom with rent of $25 per day or $638 per month .
• Five apartments were 2-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $27 to $48 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $700 to $1,440 per month.
• One apartment was a 3-bedroom apartment with rent of $41 per day or $984 per month.
• One apartment was a 4-bedroom apartment with rent of $80 per day or $984 per month.

The center of Medellin, known formally as La Candelaria, or informally as El Centro, has a rough reputation but also some hidden gems that make this neighborhood one that should not be overlooked when visiting the city.

La Candelaria survey of seven furnished apartment rentals results:

• None of the seven apartments surveyed in La Candelaria had a 30-day minimum rental.
• Three apartments were 1-bedroom or studios with rents ranging from $25 to $39 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $690 to $870 per month.
• Three apartments were 2-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $55 to $150 per day. The monthly rates ranged from $1,320 to $3,510 per month.
• One apartment was a 3-bedroom apartment with rent of $44 per day or $1,188 per month.

The Bottom Line

There is a wide range of furnished apartments available for rent in Medellín ranging from economical to luxury. El Poblado is where most of the furnished apartments in Medellín are available but El Poblado is also where the most expensive real estate in the city is found.

Furnished apartments are more expensive to rent in El Poblado than in the other areas of Medellín. You can save substantially on a furnished apartment rental in an area outside of El Poblado, such as Laureles-Estadio, Envigado or Belén.

Unfortunately there aren’t that many furnished apartments to be found outside of El Poblado as El Poblado remains the most popular area for foreign visitors to Medellín.

To compare the costs of furnished apartment rentals with unfurnished apartments, see our report last month looking at unfurnished apartment rental costs in Medellín.

To compare the results of this year’s furnished apartment rental cost survey to last year, you can look at last year’s survey results here.