Georgia against Montenegro: 7.25% gross against 4.84%, and the entry price explains most of it

On the same survey methodology, Georgia's average gross rental yield was 7.25% in the third quarter of 2026, easing from 7.42% earlier in the year, with Tbilisi at 7.23% and Batumi at 7.28%. Montenegro's average was 4.84% in the second quarter of 2026: Podgorica 5.15%, Budva 5.01%, Tivat 4.36%. Both sets are gross, before tax, maintenance, agency fees and void periods, and the publisher notes net returns typically run one and a half to two points lower.

Rents in the two countries are not far apart at the small end; prices are. A Tbilisi studio in the survey sits around €46,300 against a monthly rent near €310, which is where the 8% figures come from, while a Podgorica studio at about €75,000 rents for roughly €350. Paying sixty per cent more for a similar rent is the whole yield difference. In Georgia the strongest lines are small units — Didi Digomi studios in Tbilisi around 8.47% and Batumi studios around 8.35% — while larger two-bedroom flats in Tbilisi come in near 6.73%.

A higher gross yield is compensation for something. Montenegro prices in euros and sits inside the European regulatory orbit as a candidate for membership; Georgia is a smaller, lari-denominated market where a foreign owner carries currency exposure and a shorter track record of pricing data. Neither survey measures management quality, how easily you can sell in a slow quarter, or what a seasonal coastal let really earns once empty months are counted.

Comparisons like this are useful for sizing, not for deciding. The sensible use is to work out what rent your own budget buys in each market, subtract a realistic vacancy allowance and local tax, and then ask whether the remaining gap still pays you for the extra risk. Both datasets are updated a couple of times a year, so quote them with the quarter attached, as above, rather than as a permanent fact.