The American economist (and champion bridge player) Richard Zeckhauser wrote:
“The essence of effective investment is to select assets that will fare well when the future state of the world become known.”
How appropriate for Georgia.
The IMF’s long-term forecast predicts that Georgia’s economy will continue to grow at the fastest rate in Europe, at least 5% per year, until the end of the decade and pass USD 14,000 for gross national income per capita by the early 2030s to officially become a high-income country, the World Bank’s highest classification.
Buying an apartment or a house is an easy (though not the only) way for foreigners to invest in the Georgian economy. Perhaps 2025 is the best time to get in the market, as prices finally stabilize after three years of rapid growth, and the real estate sector settles down to become a buyer’s market. In this article we will compare prices in Georgia’s major cities, with a breakdown by district for the two main centers, and wrap up by telling you about some advantages of buying an apartment in Georgia that might not at first seem so obvious.
An overview and word about geography
Upwards of 60,000 purchases of residential real estate are made in Georgia every year, approximately 72%, according to TBC Capital estimates, in Tbilisi, 20% in Batumi, and the remaining 8% in other cities like Rustavi and Kutaisi, all major centers by Georgian standards:
- Tbilisi is home to 1.26 million people. It is a business and cultural center with well-developed infrastructure, where buildings of historical significance rub shoulders with innovative contemporary architecture. There are a wide range of options and it is ideal for expats and entrepreneurs accustomed to the luxuries of big-city life.
- The population of Batumi is 183,200. Located on the shores of the Black Sea, it comes with plenty of restaurants, stores, and the requisite stream of tourists. If your dream is to fall asleep as the sun sets over the sea or wake up in the morning and run into the waves, look no further.
- Rustavi – 127,200. A 20-minute drive from Tbilisi proper, Rustavi is a reasonable choice for cheaper real estate in proximity to the beating heart of the nation.
- Kutaisi – 125,600. The center of Imereti, ancient Greek mythology and other historical sources place its founding in the Minoan Era. Life in Kutaisi is relaxed, and flights from the city’s International Airport are competitively priced, to say the least.
- Other hidden gems include Telavi, Kobuleti, Bakuriani, Gudauri, Borjomi, Gori, and Mtskheta, each with its own advantages, though possibly fewer options for real estate. Below is a map of building density, with each point a housing project recently built or under construction.
Apartments in Tbilisi – the widest choice
According to Galt & Taggart estimates for 2025, the average cost per square meter in a new building in the capital is USD 1,334 and USD 1,245 in the secondary real estate market. Estimates from the Global Property Guide fall in the same ballpark: USD 1,378/m² (or USD 128/ft²), without reference to segment.
It should be mentioned that the cost of an apartment in Georgia can vary significantly depending on how ready it is to live in, something the National Statistics Service Geostat draws attention to.
For example, in Tbilisi, for an apartment that hasn’t been renovated (known locally as a Black Frame) you will be paying around USD 1,172/m². That’s for concrete blocks with windows and doors and very basic utilities. A step up from there (the so-called White Frame) will cost USD 1,292/m², and the walls will be plastered and there will be plumbing and electricity. Finally, something you can move into tomorrow if you bring the furniture and appliances (a Green Frame) will come in at USD 1,483/m².
The price also depends on the class of housing (with premium housing at least twice as expensive) and the district. Officially, there are 30+ administrative districts in Tbilisi, combined for convenience into several larger ones. We talked about them in more detail in the blog. Some highlights:
- Mtatsminda is the historical center, ideal for investment in the tourist sector, and home to the most expensive real estate, with an average price per square meter reaching USD 2,900/m² (and the sky’s the limit)
- Vake is cool Tbilisi, the local Manhattan, and popular with expats. You’re not likely to find an apartment in Vake for less than USD 2,525/m²
- Saburtalo is the most densely populated area and a little cheaper, clocking in at about USD 1,579/m²
- Budget options can be found in Krtsanisi, Isani, and Didube, still close to the heart of the matter, with maximum savings to be found in Gldani, Samgori, Didi Digomi, and Nadzaladevi.
Global Property Guide provides prices per square meter rendered here as number of bedrooms with a bit of rounding and data from the popular real estate website SS.ge for March 2025.
The table includes approximate rental yield for potential investors. It should be noted that the best return on investment awaits in residential districts, with researchers from the University of Antwerp and Erasmus University Rotterdam recently showing investment in housing from the bottom 10% of the market to yield higher returns than the most expensive 10%.
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AVERAGE FOR TBILISI
| Type of housing | Cost to buy | Cost to rent | Annual yield |
| Studio | $55,000 | $400 | 8.7% |
| 1 bedroom | $85,000 | $550 | 7.7% |
| 2 bedrooms | $123,000 | $750 | 7.3% |
| 3 bedrooms | $172,000 | $1,000 | 7.0% |
| 4+ bedrooms | $240,000 | $1,600 | 8.0% |
VAKE
| 1 bedroom | $183,000 | $860 | 5.6% |
| 2 bedrooms | $260,000 | $1,100 | 5.0% |
| 3 bedrooms | $345,000 | $1,600 | 7.0% |
| 4+ bedrooms | $460,000 | $2,150 | 8.0% |
SABURTALO
| Studio | $75,000 | $430 | 6.9% |
| 1 bedroom | $115,000 | $650 | 6.8% |
| 2 bedrooms | $160,000 | $860 | 6.4% |
| 3 bedrooms | $215,000 | $1,100 | 6.1% |
| 4+ bedrooms | $285,000 | $1,400 | 5.9% |
ISANI
| Studio | $52,000 | $380 | 8.8% |
| 1 bedroom | $84,000 | $540 | 7.7% |
| 2 bedrooms | $109,000 | $650 | 7.1% |
| 3 bedrooms | $153,000 | $900 | 7.0% |
DIDI-DIGOMI
| Studio | $45,000 | $385 | 10.3% |
| 1 bedroom | $70,000 | $430 | 7.4% |
| 2 bedrooms | $933,000 | $590 | 7.6% |
| 3 bedrooms | $115,000 | $760 | 7.9% |
Apartments in Batumi – seaside luxury
Georgian citizens account for only 16% of home purchases in Batumi, according to Galt & Taggart. The average cost per square meter in the municipality is USD 1,470:
- The highest prices in old Batumi are in the low-rise buildings of the historical center, where housing costs USD 2,031/m²
- For USD 1,413/m² you can buy an apartment in New Boulevard, a tourist area
- Farther away from the shoreline, condos will cost USD 1,100-1,300
Batumi is actively expanding, essentially absorbing neighboring villages, like Gonio, Kvariati, and Makhinjauri, and Galt & Taggart considers them an integral part of the overall real estate market.
The neighborhoods of Batumi include some familiar names, such as with Rustaveli, adjoining the Old Town, Khimshiashvili (named for an ancient noble family) in the New Boulevard Area, Bagrationi and Agmashenebeli, located some distance from the coast, and the Airport District in the direction of the village of Gonio.
According to Global Property Guide, apartments cost roughly the following:
AVERAGE FOR BATUMI
| Type of housing | Cost to buy | Cost to rent | Annual yield |
| Studio | $53,000 | $350 | 7.9% |
| 1 bedroom | $78,000 | $540 | 8.3% |
| 2 bedrooms | $113,000 | $650 | 6.9% |
| 3 bedrooms | $156,000 | $800 | 6.1% |
OLD BATUMI
| 1 bedroom | $94,000 | $550 | 7.0% |
| 2 bedrooms | $167,000 | $800 | 5.7% |
| 3 bedrooms | $237,000 | $1,000 | 5.1% |
KHIMSHIASHVILI
| Studio | $53,000 | $320 | 7.2% |
| 1 bedroom | $80,000 | $520 | 7.8% |
| 2 bedrooms | $116,000 | $650 | 6.7% |
| 3 bedrooms | $194,000 | $1,200 | 7.4% |
BAGRATIONI
| Studio | $45,000 | $380 | 10.1% |
| 1 bedroom | $75,000 | $470 | 7.5% |
| 2 bedrooms | $107,000 | $590 | 6.6% |
| 3 bedrooms | $161,000 | $970 | 7.2% |
Housing in Rustavi and Kutaisi – an interesting option
Prices in Rustavi and Kutaisi are comparable: USD 700-1,200 per square meter, with a new apartment of 50 m² for USD 45,000, half the price of property in Tbilisi and Batumi. What’s more, prices won’t really vary too much between the center and the outskirts.
One reason apartments in Rustavi and Kutaisi are so cheap is a lack of premium amenities like parking, courtyards with playgrounds, and so forth, though that’s not to say living conditions are terrible, especially if you have a car, in which case the rest of Georgia is just a short drive away.
Other cities for je (ne) sais quoi
Three other locations in Georgia experiencing demand:
- Kobuleti: A coastal town 30 kilometers from Batumi that can get crowded in the summer and so make sense as an investment in tourism, but is still quiet enough that you may want to live there yourself. The average price per square meter in Kobuleti is USD 1,233, and according to Galt & Taggart an apartment of 51 m² will set you back USD 63,180.
- Bakuriani: An urban-type settlement and ski resort popular among Georgians. According to PMCG, 71% of respondents who expressed an affinity for skiing – and in 2023 there were more than 300,000 of them – chose to do so here. A square meter in Bakuriani costs about USD 1,035, and a 46 m² apartment can be purchased for USD 47,433.
- Gudauri: A ski village popular with foreigners. The choice of 71% of tourists visiting Georgia for the mountains, almost 500,000 in 2023, (more recent statistics are not publicly available, but one can assume confidently that the numbers have continued to go up). Comparable to Batumi at USD 1,417/m² or USD 70,789 for an apartment of 50 m².
Georgia is ready for foreign investors
- There is no tax on the purchase of houses and apartments, and if you keep the property for two years, there is no tax when you sell it
- Tax on rental income when registering on the landlord register is only 5%
- The annual property tax levy does not exceed 1%
- If you stay in the country to work and register as an IE with small business status, a popular choice among freelancers and employees of foreign companies, tax on the income from labor is only 1%. We have written elsewhere about the tax advantages that exist for start-ups
Citizens of over 90 countries can enter Georgia without a visa and stay for up to a year. But you don’t even have to do that – real estate can be purchased remotely (and with cryptocurrency). You can also get a residence permit for investing at least USD 100,000 in real estate (the total is what’s important, for example, two apartments at USD 50,000 each).
Abu Dhabi-based company Eagle Hills believes in the potential of the Georgian market and is putting its money where its mouth is with plans to invest USD 5.7 billion in projects in Tbilisi and Gonio.
Why not catch the market on the way up? PB Services can help you find the perfect apartment and handle the paperwork and payments. Contact us with the form below or request a free consultation.