Owning a Rental Villa in Umalas: Yields, Rules and Real Demand

An Umalas rental villa earned around USD 26,894 gross per year on average in the twelve months to July 2026, at 52.4% occupancy and a USD 150 nightly rate. That is more occupancy, and more annual revenue, than neighbouring Canggu achieves on a considerably higher rate — but it comes from a market of only 29 tracked listings, so the headline needs unpacking before anyone builds a purchase decision on it. This guide sets out what Umalas villas earn by operating tier, what that means for net yield at realistic purchase prices, when the area books, and which Badung rules apply.

The figures come from AirROI's 2026 Umalas dataset (August 2025 – July 2026, updated 12 September 2026). No Indonesian authority publishes neighbourhood-level rental data, so where a number below is an assumption rather than an observation, the same sentence says so.

What Umalas is, and why its data behaves differently

Umalas is the residential pocket inland of Seminyak and Kerobokan, in North Kuta district, Badung Regency, sitting between the rice-field lanes that run up towards Canggu and the villa streets that run down to Batu Belig. It is where a lot of Bali's long-term expatriate families live, which shapes both its character and its rental market: quieter roads, larger gardens, international schools nearby, and a guest who wants Seminyak's restaurants without Seminyak's traffic outside the bedroom window.

That positioning shows up in the data as an occupancy market. Umalas clears USD 150 a night against Canggu's USD 214, but converts it into 52.4% occupancy against Canggu's 36.2%. Revenue per available night ends up almost identical — USD 82 against USD 79 — by opposite routes. We saw the same pattern, less extreme, in Pererenan, and the reverse in Berawa, which is a rate market.

The more important point is sample size. AirROI tracks 29 active listings in Umalas against 3,920 in Canggu. Many villas that guests would call Umalas are listed under Kerobokan, Seminyak or Canggu, because those names search better. So the Umalas dataset is not “every rental in Umalas”; it is the subset of hosts who chose to name the area. It skews small, too — 48.3% of those listings are one-bedroom and the average listing sleeps 3.1 guests. A four-bedroom family villa is not well represented in these numbers.

Pro Tip: For a larger Umalas villa, benchmark against Umalas occupancy but against Seminyak and Canggu rates for comparable bedroom counts. The Umalas sample tells you how reliably the area books; it does not tell you what a four-bedroom can charge.

What Umalas villas actually earn in 2026

With a market this small, tiers matter more than averages. The spread between the top decile and bottom quartile in Umalas is USD 114 of RevPAR — the best listings earn nearly five times what the weakest earn per available night.

One oddity is worth flagging. In most Bali markets the average sits above the median, because a handful of large villas pull the mean up. In Umalas the annualised median (about USD 36,000) sits well above the published average (USD 26,894). The likeliest explanation is a long tail of underperforming or part-year listings dragging the mean down in a sample of 29. Either way, it tells you the typical well-run Umalas listing is doing better than the headline suggests — and that a poorly run one does markedly worse.

The numbers also cross-check. At the median rate of USD 147, grossing USD 36,156 requires about 246 booked nights, or 67% occupancy — close to the 65% median occupancy AirROI reports. The median figure is internally consistent, which is more than can be said for many agency projections.

Umalas against its neighbours

Canggu and Pererenan figures are from AirROI's Canggu and Pererenan datasets for the same period. The pattern is clear: Umalas books more nights at a lower rate, with shorter stays and more turnover — 33.3 bookings per listing a year. AirROI has no year-on-year comparison for Umalas, so unlike Pererenan we cannot say whether supply is growing; the small listing count suggests it is not the area absorbing Canggu's overflow.

Advertised yields versus the arithmetic

The table below annualises AirROI's revenue tiers and applies an illustrative 55% net operating margin. That margin is an assumption stated for transparency, not a figure from the dataset; the real number depends on staffing, management fee, channel mix and maintenance, and the mechanics are in our guide to gross versus net villa yield.

Compared with the other areas in this series, Umalas's median looks strong — 5.0% net on a USD 400,000 purchase, against 3.0% for a median Pererenan listing at the same price. Two caveats keep that in proportion. First, the Umalas sample is dominated by small villas, which are cheaper to buy; a USD 250,000 one-bedroom is the realistic comparison for the median line, not a USD 600,000 family villa. Second, a tier figure built from 29 listings can move several points when two or three hosts join or leave. Use the table to set expectations, not to underwrite a loan.

Pro Tip: When a seller shows you an Umalas villa's booking history, ask how many of its nights were monthly lets. Over a quarter of the area's listings carry a 30-night minimum, and a year of monthly lets produces high occupancy at a discounted rate — a different asset from one that sells peak-season nights.

Demand: when Umalas books, and who books it

Read the rate column carefully. Umalas's average nightly rate is lower in peak season than in low season — USD 143 against USD 172. Occupancy rises 27 points into August to October, and the market hands the extra demand over at a discount. Some of that is mix (smaller listings fill first in peak), but most of it is hosts who set a rate once and let occupancy do the work. It is the single most obvious revenue gap in the area, and the reason a disciplined base rate and seasonal pricing calendar earns more here than almost anywhere else in this series.

The guest is international — 93% of bookings, led by Australia (23.7%) and the United Kingdom (10.3%). Ratings are high at 4.89 average, with 31.0% of listings holding a Guest Favorite badge. Location is the weakest subcategory at 4.77, which for an inland area is expected: guests who picture a beach walk find a scooter ride. July stays are booked furthest out, around 73 days ahead, while January bookings arrive about 12 days out.

The rules that apply because Umalas sits in Badung

AirROI classifies Umalas as a high-regulation market, with 90% of its listings showing registration evidence. That is a signal worth taking seriously: in an area where most competitors are visibly licensed, an unlicensed villa stands out to both platforms and inspectors. The route is the usual one — a PT PMA holding an NIB issued through the OSS system, the right KBLI and the tourism licence that follows. Our guides to the NIB and tourism licence, choosing the villa KBLI and Perda 4/2026 cover the detail. None of this is legal advice; take Indonesian counsel on the specific parcel and structure.

What I've seen running villas in and around Umalas

Three things come up again and again with Umalas owners, and none of them show in a yield projection.

The first is the peak-season discount that nobody meant to give. Umalas fills easily in August, and because it fills easily, owners assume their rate is right. It usually is not. A villa that is 90% booked by June for August is telling you it was priced for the shoulder. Moving rate up through the peak block and holding it firmer in low season, rather than the reverse, is the fastest money in this area.

The second is the long-stay trap. Umalas attracts families relocating to Bali, often looking at schools nearby, who want two or three months while they find a lease. It is good, steady business in February or April. It is expensive business in August, when the same nights sell individually at a higher rate. The decision to take a monthly booking should depend on which months it covers, not on how pleasant the family seems.

The third is honest location copy. Umalas is close to Seminyak and Canggu on a map and not always in traffic. The villas with the best location scores say exactly how far the beach is, by scooter and by car, at the time of day guests actually travel — and arrange drivers before the guest asks.

— Francesco, Manta Villas

Key takeaways

How Manta Villas works with Umalas owners

The gap between the median and top-quartile lines above is operational, not architectural: seasonal rate discipline, knowing when a monthly let helps and when it costs you, channel mix, fast responses and review recovery. That is the whole of our management brief, and in Umalas the pricing piece alone tends to be worth more than the fee.

If you own or are buying in Umalas and want the arithmetic run against your specific villa rather than a 29-listing median, we prepare a free revenue projection covering realistic occupancy, seasonal rate positioning and a net figure after the Badung tax and management costs. See what it includes on our villa management services page, and read the broader approach in our guide to Bali villa management.

FAQ

What rental yield can an Umalas villa realistically achieve in 2026?

AirROI's 2026 Umalas dataset puts the median listing at about USD 3,013 per month, or roughly USD 36,156 a year gross, with the top quartile at about USD 47,844 and the top decile at about USD 61,248. At an illustrative 55 percent net operating margin, a median listing bought for USD 400,000 returns roughly 5.0 percent net, and a top-decile listing at the same price about 8.4 percent. The sample is only 29 listings, so treat these as indicative rather than precise.

Is Umalas a better rental investment than Canggu?

On AirROI's 2026 figures Umalas converts demand more efficiently than Canggu: 52.4 percent occupancy against 36.2 percent, and USD 26,894 average annual revenue against USD 21,244, on a lower nightly rate of USD 150 versus USD 214. RevPAR is similar at USD 82 against USD 79. Umalas is a small, occupancy-led market; Canggu is a large, rate-led one. The comparison flatters Umalas partly because its supply base is tiny.

How many short-term rentals are there in Umalas?

AirROI counts 29 active Airbnb listings in Umalas in its August 2025 to July 2026 dataset, against 3,920 in Canggu. Many villas that guests think of as Umalas are listed under Kerobokan, Seminyak or Canggu, so the true local supply is larger than the figure suggests. The small sample is the main reason every Umalas statistic should be read with caution.

What licence does an Umalas villa need to rent short-term?

An Umalas villa rents short-term through an Indonesian company holding an NIB issued via the OSS system, the correct accommodation KBLI and the tourism business licence that follows from it, with parcel-level zoning under the RDTR permitting accommodation use. Umalas is in Badung Regency, which levies a 10 percent local tax on accommodation and food-and-beverage services. Verify the parcel with DPMPTSP Badung and take Indonesian legal advice before committing.

When is peak season in Umalas?

August, September and October are the peak months, averaging 73.1 percent occupancy and USD 3,673 in monthly revenue. February, April and July are the softest, averaging 46.0 percent occupancy and USD 2,179. Unusually, the average nightly rate is higher in the low season, at USD 172, than in peak, at USD 143, which points to under-pricing during the busiest months.

Recommended reading

• Owning a Rental Villa in Canggu: Yields, Rules and Real Demand — the large rate-led market next door.


• Owning a Rental Villa in Pererenan: Yields, Rules and Real Demand — another occupancy-led market, with a very different supply story.


• Bali Villa Net Yield: Gross vs Net, and What Actually Reaches the Owner — where the 55% margin assumption comes from.


• Bali Villa Base Rate Pricing — how to fix the peak-season discount described above.