Rental Yields in Goa: What the Numbers Actually Say
The 6-8% figure quoted for Goa describes the beach belt on holiday lets, and it does not travel inland. Yields by micro-market, and why the highest number is not the best investment.
Ask what Goa yields and you will be told 6 to 8%. That figure is not wrong, but it describes one specific thing: a holiday let in the beach belt, in season, well run. It does not describe an apartment in Margao, and quoting it as a state-wide number has cost people money.
Here is what the spread actually looks like.
Yields by area
| Area | Indicative yield | Band | Demand driven by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vagator | 7.5% | - | Holiday lets, peak season |
| Morjim | 7.0% | - | Holiday lets, long-stay visitors |
| Anjuna | 6.0% | 5-7% | Holiday lets |
| Panjim | 5.4% | - | City rental, year-round |
| Assagao | 5.0% | 4-6% | Premium villas, longer lets |
| Vasco | 4.5% | 4-5% | Port, naval and airport employment |
| Pernem | 4.5% | - | Airport-adjacent, emerging |
| Siolim | 4.0% | 3-5% | Residential, longer lets |
| Margao | 3.5% | 3-4% | Long-let residential, commercial town |
Three things the table does not say
The high numbers are seasonal, and seasonal is work
Vagator at 7.5% and Morjim at 7% are holiday-let figures. They assume you fill the season, manage turnovers, absorb the monsoon months and either pay a manager or do it yourself. A 7.5% gross on a property that is empty from June to September and needs active management is not comparable to a 4% long let that pays every month and takes an hour a year.
Ask what any quoted yield is net of, and over how many months.
The low numbers are the steady ones
Margao's 3.5% and Vasco's 4.5% look unexciting next to the beach belt. They are also the yields least exposed to a bad tourist season, a regulatory change on short lets, or the next village to become fashionable. Vasco's demand comes from Mormugao port, naval employment and Dabolim airport - none of which stops in the monsoon.
Yield and appreciation are pulling in opposite directions
Assagao yields around 5% but is up roughly 135% since 2022 on registered sale deeds. Margao yields less and has no published appreciation series at all. The beach belt has been an appreciation play with a modest income attached; the working towns are an income play with modest appreciation. Deciding which you are actually buying is most of the decision.
Running your own numbers
A yield is only as good as its inputs, and the ones that get fudged are always the same:
- Occupancy. Use realistic months, not twelve.
- Management. A holiday let costs a meaningful share of gross to run.
- Society and maintenance charges, which are higher on the amenity-heavy projects that market best.
- Furnishing and replacement, which a short let consumes far faster than a long one.
Our rental yield calculator takes purchase price, area and expected rent and gives you the gross figure to start from. Compare it against the band for that micro-market above: if a seller's projection sits well outside it, ask what they are assuming that the market is not.
Where to start
If you want income, look at the working towns and the city - Margao, Vasco, Panjim. If you want appreciation and accept the seasonality, the northern beach belt is where it has happened - with the caveat that a great deal of it has happened already.
Yields are indicative benchmarks as at 2026, quoted gross, and vary considerably by property. They are not a forecast or a guarantee of return.
