Tbilisi turnover reached USD 2.37 billion in seven months, led by resales

An asking-price index tells you what sellers hope for. Transaction volume tells you how much money actually moved and how many deals closed. Both were up here: 4,409 apartments sold in July and USD 2.37 billion across seven months, against a square-metre price rising a more modest 4%. That combination describes a market where activity is growing faster than pricing, which is a healthier picture for a seller trying to exit than one where prices climb while deal counts fall.

When growth comes mainly from the secondary market, the buyers are purchasing finished flats rather than off-plan units from developers. For an owner holding a completed apartment that is the relevant demand, because it is demand for the thing you have rather than for something being built. It also means your competition on the day of sale includes both other resale owners and the developers' unsold stock in the same district, which is where this year's record completions start to press on the price you can hold.

The same review cites the official construction cost index as 4.3% higher than a year earlier in July, and 0.8% up on the month. Build costs rising at roughly the same pace as transaction prices leave developer margins broadly where they were, which argues against a wave of discounting on new stock. For a buyer that is a reason not to wait for a correction that the cost side is not producing; for a seller it is a reason to price against recent completed sales in the same building rather than against listings.