Malé and Hulhumalé rent guide: typical prices by area and bedrooms
What does it cost to rent in Greater Malé? Compare typical monthly asking rents by area, bedrooms and room type, with charts and a moving checklist.
Greater Malé · August 2026 rental snapshot
What does it cost to rent here?
A clearer starting budget for your next home. Compare whole homes and rooms, then narrow the search by bedrooms and area.
Typical apartment or house
MVR 25,000
per month · 73 priced adverts
Typical room
MVR 7,900
per month · 21 priced adverts
Typical means the median—the middle advertised price. These are two different searches, not like-for-like homes.
More bedrooms, a different budget
Each band shows the middle half of monthly asking rents. The coral mark is the median. All rows use the same MVR 0–60,000 scale.
1-bedroom homes
MVR 10,000 · priced N=15
2-bedroom homes
MVR 19,500 · priced N=22
3-bedroom homes
MVR 26,500 · priced N=28
4+-bedroom homes
MVR 43,000 · priced N=7 · LOW SAMPLE
Two areas. Two starting budgets.
Monthly apartments and houses, across bedroom counts. Compare similar homes before judging an area premium. Same MVR 0–60,000 scale.
Hulhumalé
MVR 33,500 · priced N=18
Malé
MVR 22,500 · priced N=55
Other or missing
Suppressed · priced N=0
Typical monthly rent at a glance
Typical monthly asking rent was MVR 25,000 for apartments and houses in our Greater Malé snapshot. One-bedroom homes centred on MVR 10,000, two-bedroom homes on MVR 19,500, and three-bedroom homes on MVR 26,500. A room was a separate, lower-cost search at MVR 7,900.
Start with the number of bedrooms you need, then compare your area. The whole-home median was MVR 22,500 in Malé and MVR 33,500 in Hulhumalé, across different bedroom counts.
Based on available online rental adverts, our August 2026 guide separates whole homes, rooms and short stays. We reviewed 2,838 housing records. The main whole-home figures use 73 adverts with usable monthly prices. The charts show the middle price and the central half of asking rents so you can set a budget and judge what a home offers for the money.
The Greater Malé rent numbers at a glance
| Search | Priced adverts | Median asking rent |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly apartments and houses | 73 | MVR 25,000 |
| Malé apartments and houses | 55 | MVR 22,500 |
| Hulhumalé apartments and houses | 18 | MVR 33,500 |
| Monthly rooms | 21 | MVR 7,900 |
These are the prices in the adverts. Use them to set a search budget, then compare the actual home and negotiate the terms. A median is the middle price; the middle range covers the central half of prices.
What each bedroom count costs
Bedroom count creates the clearest price step in the archive.
| Bedrooms | Priced adverts | Middle range | Median asking rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | 15 | MVR 8,750–14,000 | MVR 10,000 |
| 2 bedrooms | 22 | MVR 17,000–22,500 | MVR 19,500 |
| 3 bedrooms | 28 | MVR 25,000–40,000 | MVR 26,500 |
| 4 or more | 7 | MVR 40,000–43,000 | MVR 43,000 |
For many renters, the biggest jump comes when the search moves from two bedrooms to three. The median rises by MVR 7,000, and the upper half reaches much higher.
The four-bedroom group is smaller, but the direction is clear: larger whole homes sit in a different price band.
Malé and Hulhumalé are different searches
The monthly apartment median was MVR 22,500 in Malé and MVR 33,500 in Hulhumalé.
Hulhumalé also had a higher middle band, from MVR 24,250 to MVR 40,000. Malé ran from MVR 14,500 to MVR 26,000.
That gap does not mean every Hulhumalé home costs MVR 11,000 more. The mix of bedrooms, furnishing, building quality, and condition changes between the two areas. It does mean renters should set different starting budgets for the two searches.
Rooms sit near MVR 8,000
Rooms form a separate market from whole homes.
After removing daily and hourly stays, 58 long-term room adverts had usable prices. Their median was MVR 7,950. The smaller group that stated a monthly period had a near-identical median of MVR 7,900.
The middle range for long-term rooms was MVR 6,000 to MVR 8,500. That makes MVR 8,000 a useful first reference for a room search in Greater Malé.
The archive has more short stays than long-term homes
The most surprising result is the shape of the archive itself.
| iBay housing category | Records |
|---|---|
| Guest houses and short stays | 1,850 |
| Apartments and houses for rent | 375 |
| Rooms for rent | 352 |
| Lodging and boarding | 120 |
| Land for sale or lease | 73 |
| Office and commercial space | 51 |
| Roommates wanted | 17 |
Short stays make up 65.2% of all Housing & Real Estate records. A large headline record count can therefore hide a much smaller long-term rental market.
That is why the useful number is not 2,838. It is the carefully separated group that matches the home and payment period a renter is actually searching for.
How to use the numbers
Start with the median for your bedroom count and area. Then move your budget for the features that change the value of one home:
- furnishing and appliance condition;
- floor area and layout;
- lift and building access;
- number of bathrooms;
- deposit and advance terms;
- whether the advert is current;
- the quality of the property evidence.
An advert well below its group can be a genuine opportunity, but it deserves more checking. An advert above the group should make its extra value easy to see.
Is MVR 25,000 a sensible budget for three bedrooms?
Yes—MVR 25,000 per month is a sensible starting point for a three-bedroom search in Greater Malé. In our August snapshot, the median asking rent for three-bedroom homes was MVR 26,500 across 28 priced adverts. The middle half asked MVR 25,000–40,000.
At MVR 25,000, the asking price is MVR 1,500 below that median and at the lower end of the middle range. That makes the flat worth a closer look. The next question is what you get for the money: the area, usable space, bathrooms, condition and building access.
First, confirm that “three rooms” means three bedrooms, rather than two bedrooms and a living room.
What should you check before moving in?
- Total move-in cost: Get the deposit, advance rent, fees and first payment date in writing.
- Monthly cost: Ask which bills are included and how water and electricity are charged.
- Space: Check that the bedrooms fit your beds and storage. Count bathrooms and check the layout.
- Condition: Test taps, water pressure, drains, lights, sockets and air conditioning. Look for damp and leaks.
- Access: Check the lift, stairs and the route you will use with shopping or children.
- Daily life: Visit at a busy time. Check noise, daylight, ventilation and your travel route.
- Agreement: Confirm who handles repairs, rent increases, notice and the return of your deposit.
- Handover: Record the condition and meter readings, and get receipts for payments.
Does Hulhumalé cost more than Malé?
In this snapshot, yes: the whole-home median was MVR 33,500 in Hulhumalé and MVR 22,500 in Malé. These area figures include different bedroom counts. Use the bedroom chart first, then compare similar homes in your chosen area. The MVR 11,000 gap is a difference between the advertised mixes, not a fixed price for moving across the bridge.
What does this tell us about value?
For a three-bedroom home at MVR 25,000, start with the viewing—not the assumption that it is overpriced. A sound home with useful space, good access and clear rental terms may be a strong option. A lower price with damp, cramped rooms or large extra costs can be poor value.
Use the charts and checklist together. Price tells you where to start; the home and the terms tell you whether to proceed.
Set your budget, then compare the home
Start near MVR 10,000 for one bedroom, MVR 19,500 for two, or MVR 26,500 for three in this snapshot. Compare similar homes in your chosen area, then check the usable space, condition and full move-in cost.
A clear budget and a good checklist make the search more useful than a single market-wide number.
About the data
Source: iBay Housing & Real Estate archive, captured 28 August 2026. Analysis: Dhoraashi Research, operated by White Cowrie Private Limited. This page was updated on 15 September 2026; the source snapshot date is unchanged.
Of 375 apartment and house adverts, 123 stated a monthly period after short-stay and sale text were excluded. 73 had usable monthly prices, including 28 three-bedroom adverts. Whole-home prices from MVR 5,000 to MVR 100,000 were used; missing and obvious placeholder prices were set aside. Charts show the median and the middle 50% of each group.
These are asking prices, not signed tenancy prices or a live availability count. Adverts can repeat a home. Keeping one record per exact apartment title gave an overall monthly median of MVR 24,000, compared with MVR 25,000 in the main sample. This is a dated market snapshot, separate from the quarterly Rent Index.
Keep the rent guide handy
Save the bedroom, area and room figures for your next viewing.
