Batumi gross yields are 7.1%, and the forecast is 5.1%

Yield is rent divided by price, so it falls whenever the price rises faster than the rent. In Batumi the price side has been rising at 8-9% a year while daily rates fell 7.3% in the first quarter, and a separate review of 2025 found average daily rates roughly flat at about $35.6. Nothing has gone wrong with the rental market in that picture; the flats simply cost more to buy. That matters most to the person buying today, because the earlier owner locked in a lower price and still collects the same rent.

A 7.1% gross figure is rent before anything is taken out. The review cites an estimate of 2-3% as a realistic net return once costs are counted, and notes it can fall to zero or below during periods with no guest. Between the two numbers sit the management fee, cleaning and laundry, utilities, platform commission, furnishing and its replacement, repairs, building fees and tax. None of those are unusual or hidden; they are simply never in the headline. Anyone comparing a Batumi flat with a bank deposit should compare the net figure, because the deposit rate is already net of effort.

Close to 13,000 unsold apartments were on the books, and the figure was still growing. Projects due to finish in 2026 were about 71% sold, but those completing between 2027 and 2029 were only 53-56% sold. That stock has to find buyers or tenants, and every unit that becomes a short-let competes with the one you already own. The review's own conclusion is that the pipeline creates oversupply risk and that price growth is likely to slow, with sharper corrections possible in some segments.

These are forecasts and survey averages, not a verdict on any particular flat, and a well-located apartment with a competent manager can beat them. The useful discipline is to build your own numbers before you sign: ask the seller or agent for twelve months of actual booking records and bank statements rather than a projection, price in an occupancy figure you would still be comfortable with in a weak season, and check how many units in the same building are already listed for short-let. If the deal only works at the gross yield, it does not work.