Tbilisi asking rents fell three years running while prices kept rising
Two series tell opposite stories about the same market. TBC Capital figures compiled in a May 2026 review put average Tbilisi rent at about 10.0 dollars per square metre in January to February 2026, down 6 percent year on year, after asking rents fell 8 percent in 2024 and 11 percent in 2025. Over the same stretch the residential price index kept climbing. For an owner weighing whether to sell or let, the gap between those two lines is the whole decision.
What the rent series shows
Two independent compilers land in roughly the same place. Galt & Taggart put average rent at about 10.1 dollars per square metre for 50 to 60 square metre new Tbilisi apartments in February 2026; TBC Capital put it at about 10.0 dollars for January to February, 6 percent below the year before. The longer pattern in the TBC data is three consecutive annual declines in asking rents. Geostat's own consumer price measure of actual rentals rose 1.9 percent year on year in March 2026, against 4.3 percent for all items — so even where rents rose in nominal terms, they rose more slowly than general prices.
Why the two lines diverge
The usual explanation is supply arriving faster than tenant demand. Across Georgia, completions in 2025 came to 2,112 projects covering 2.468 million square metres, and authorisations to 8,167 projects covering 8.816 million square metres — a pipeline substantially larger than what completed. In Tbilisi specifically, 2025 permits fell 4.20 percent in number and the permitted living area fell 10.73 percent, so the pipeline has started to narrow at the front end even while units from earlier permits keep handing over. More finished flats competing for the same renters pushes asking rents down regardless of what sale prices do.
What this means for a sell-or-let decision
The sales side has not been weak: apartment sales across Georgia came to about 78,500 in 2025, up 5.94 percent, with Tbilisi at 42,388, up 4.31 percent, and TBC Capital's baseline forecast for 2026 was 79,600 units. So an owner is choosing between a liquid sale market and a rental market where the asking-rent trend has been against landlords for three years. One caution on the data: this compilation was published in May 2026 and its rent figures are from January to March. Before acting, check the current month rather than this one, and check your own district rather than the city median.
Written by us from the source linked above, not investment, legal or tax advice. Figures and rules change — confirm anything that matters before acting on it.
