Highest Rental Yields in Europe in 2026

Ask most people where rental yields are highest in Europe and they will guess somewhere familiar. London, maybe. Amsterdam. Barcelona. The reality is that none of those cities appear anywhere near the top of the 2026 rankings. London averages around 3.5%. Amsterdam is below 4%. Barcelona, after years of price growth, has compressed to similar levels.

The strongest residential yields in Europe right now are in Istanbul, Albanian coastal towns, Polish university cities, and Sicilian apartments that cost less than a parking space in central Paris. This is not a secret: the data has been pointing this way for several years, but it tends to get lost in the noise of markets that have better PR than they do yield.

Here is where the numbers actually stand in 2026.

What Rental Yield Actually Means

Gross rental yield is annual rent divided by purchase price, expressed as a percentage. A property bought for €100,000 that generates €6,000 a year in rent has a 6% gross yield. It does not account for vacancy, management costs, maintenance, or taxes; those reduce it to a net figure that varies significantly by market and property type. The figures below are gross yields unless otherwise stated, which is the standard for cross-market comparison.

A yield is not attractive in isolation. High yields can reflect strong demand and low prices (a good sign) or high vacancy risk and low liquidity (less good). The context for each market below matters as much as the headline number.

Yield Comparison: The Markets We Cover

Country	City / Market	Gross rental yield
Turkey	Istanbul	~8.17%
Turkey	Ankara	~8.10%
Albania	Sarandë (peak short-term)	up to 9-12%
Albania	Tirana (long-term)	~6-8%
Poland	Łódź (city centre)	~7-8.5%
Poland	Kraków	up to 7.23%
Poland	Warsaw	~6.81%
Turkey	Antalya	~6.14%
Montenegro	National average	~5.59%
Greece	Athens	~4.38%
Bulgaria	Sofia	~4.19%

Where the Strongest Yields Are, and Why

Turkey: the highest yields in any major city, with one important caveat

Istanbul and Ankara both sit above 8% gross yield, and that deserves to be said plainly: these are not micro-markets or niche plays. Istanbul is a city of 15 million people with more annual property transactions than most entire countries. An 8% average gross yield across that whole city is genuinely unusual, and it reflects a combination of strong structural rental demand from a large and growing urban population and property prices that, while rising fast in nominal lira terms, remain relatively affordable in foreign-currency terms.

The caveat that every Turkey buyer needs to understand: rental income there is often partly or fully in Turkish lira, and the lira has lost a significant portion of its value against the euro and dollar over the past decade. Gross yield figures in lira terms can look strong while the foreign-currency return is considerably lower. This does not make Turkey the wrong answer (many international investors manage the currency exposure successfully) but it is the first thing to get right before anything else. The full analysis is in Is Turkey a Good Place to Invest in Property?.

Albania: the short-term rental outlier

The Albanian Riviera is where the highest single numbers in this comparison appear, and they are genuinely striking. Short-term rental yields in Sarandë's promenade area range up to 9-12% on well-located properties during peak season. Those are not long-term let figures: they reflect seasonal short-term rental performance in a market where summer occupancy is high and nightly rates have been rising year after year.

For long-term lets in Tirana, the picture is more measured: 6-8% gross, which is still strong by regional standards but reflects a market where prices have risen faster than rents in the most in-demand districts. Albania is also the fastest-moving market in this comparison in price terms, with national growth around 18% year-on-year, which is exciting if you are already in and concerning if you are trying to buy at a reasonable price. The full breakdown, city by city, is in Is Albania a Good Place to Invest in Property?.

Poland: consistent, unglamorous, and worth a second look

Poland is the market in this list that most surprises people when they see the yield figures, because Poland does not have the obvious narrative: no dramatic coastline, no citizenship program, no 18%-a-year price growth story. What it has is Łódź at 7-8.5%, Kraków at up to 7.23%, and Warsaw at 6.81%, all from long-term residential lets in one of the EU's strongest economies.

The driver is not complicated. Poland has large urban populations, significant student communities in most major cities, and property prices that are still well below the income levels those cities generate. Łódź in particular sits in an interesting position: the yields are high partly because foreign investors have not paid it enough attention to bid prices up yet. When a market's strongest argument is that nobody is paying attention, the window does not usually stay open indefinitely. See Is Poland a Good Place to Invest in Property? for the full breakdown.

Montenegro: steady, simple, and in euros

Montenegro's national average of around 5.59% is lower than Turkey or Albania, but it comes with something those markets cannot offer: euro-denominated pricing and rental income, which removes the currency risk that complicates the Turkey analysis entirely. The market is smaller and less liquid, but for a buyer who wants strong coastal yields without foreign exchange management, Montenegro is one of the cleaner options in this comparison. See Property Investment in Montenegro for details.

Greece and Bulgaria: trailing in this comparison

Athens at 4.38% and Sofia at 4.19% are not weak yields in absolute terms (they beat most of Western Europe comfortably) but they are the lowest in this group. In both cases, prices have risen faster than rents in recent years, compressing yields from earlier highs. Greece in particular has seen significant price appreciation driven by Golden Visa demand and tourism investment, which has pushed yields down even as international interest has grown. For buyers looking to maximise yield, both markets currently offer less attractive entry points than Turkey, Albania, or Poland.

What High Yield Alone Does Not Tell You

A few things worth bearing in mind when using this data:

Short-term and long-term yields are different products. Albania's Riviera numbers are peak-season short-term figures. Poland's are mostly long-term residential lets. Comparing them shows the range of what is available, but they carry different management requirements, vacancy profiles, and regulatory exposure. Short-term rentals face increasing regulation in parts of Europe and require active day-to-day management that long-term lets do not.

Gross yield is not net yield. Management fees, property taxes, vacancy periods, and maintenance costs vary significantly by market. A 7% gross yield in Poland with low running costs may produce a better net return than an 8% gross yield somewhere with higher vacancy risk or management complexity.

Currency matters for non-euro markets. Turkey is the most acute example, but Albania (Albanian lek) and Poland (Polish zloty) also introduce foreign exchange considerations for EUR or GBP buyers. Montenegro's euro use is genuinely useful for buyers who want to avoid that complexity.

Yield and capital growth are separate return components. Some of the highest-yield markets here have lower price growth than lower-yield markets. Total return depends on both, and the right balance depends on whether you are optimising for income now or capital appreciation over time.

Conclusion

The highest residential rental yields in Europe in 2026 are in Istanbul, the Albanian Riviera, Polish university cities, and parts of Turkey's coast, not in the markets that tend to dominate property headlines. Each of them has its own specific context that explains the number and deserves to be understood before treating it as a straightforward return. The linked country guides go deeper on each market's dynamics, risks, and buying process. As always, Heimsel does not provide investment advice; these figures are a starting point for your own research.