Where does an off-plan return come from?
Buying a flat before the building is finished can pay in three ways. The first is the difference between the price at the stage you buy and the value of a finished flat when the building is commissioned. The second is time: developers' instalment schemes let you pay over the construction period, which works like interest-free credit if the schedule is generous. The third is the rent or use you get once the flat is complete, the same as with any other purchase.
Against that stand three costs that a finished flat does not have. You earn nothing on the money you have paid until completion; you carry the risk that the building is late, changed or never finished; and, in Tbilisi especially, the flat usually arrives in white frame, so finishing and furniture still have to be paid for. An off-plan purchase is a good investment only when the first three outweigh the second three, with room to spare.
What the market data say about buying early
Off-plan is not a niche in Georgia; it is how most new flats are sold. Galt & Taggart's surveys of the larger developers show how much of each future building has already been sold.
| Projects completing in | Tbilisi | Batumi |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 94% | - |
| 2026 | 72% | 74% |
| 2027 | 61% | 60% |
| 2028 | 45% (2028-29) | 55% |
| 2029 | 45% (2028-29) | 55% |
Two things follow. Buyers commit years ahead: more than half of the flats due in 2027 were already sold by early or mid-2026. And according to Galt & Taggart, most sales in the surveyed Tbilisi projects completed in 2025 went through developers' own instalment schemes, which competition has pushed to their most refined form yet. Competition between developers is therefore fought on payment terms as much as on price.
Price history shows why timing matters. Year by year, Tbilisi's new-build prices grew by 20.2% (2023), 11.6% (2024) and 4.0% (2025). A buyer who paid at the start of the boom and completed at its height did well; one who bought at the peak and completes into slower years has earned much less, before any costs. In Batumi, turnkey prices have kept rising close to 10% a year, but the same analysts warn that a wide gap to resale prices, a large pipeline and a falling yield make that pace hard to keep.
One flat, three outcomes
The table follows a 60 m² white-frame flat bought in Tbilisi at the February 2026 average of $1,398 per square metre, $83,880 in all, with completion two years later. It changes only the yearly price movement and compares the result with what the same money would have earned in a dollar deposit at 2.6% a year. It is an illustration, not a forecast.
| Yearly price change | Value at completion | Gain on paper | Dollar deposit instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | $83,880 | $0 | about $4,420 |
| 4%, the 2025 pace in Tbilisi | about $90,720 | about $6,840 | about $4,420 |
| 10%, close to Batumi's recent pace | about $101,490 | about $17,610 | about $4,420 |
Three adjustments bring the paper gain closer to reality. If you pay in instalments, less money is tied up, so the deposit comparison shrinks and the return on the cash you actually paid rises. The gain belongs to a white-frame flat, so finishing has to be paid before it can be let or sold at a finished price. And selling has its own costs and taxes: an individual's gain on selling a residential flat is taxed at 5% (Tax Code, Article 81(3)), while a home held for more than two years is exempt; when that period starts for a flat bought off-plan is a question for an accountant.
What is an instalment plan worth?
An instalment plan changes the arithmetic of the table above. Suppose you pay 30% at signing and the remaining 70% in equal monthly amounts over the 24 months of construction. On average, about 65% of the price is then committed during those two years instead of all of it, so the dollar-deposit income you give up falls from about $4,420 to roughly $2,870, and the return on the cash you actually paid rises accordingly. Ask the developer whether it offers a lower price for paying in full: the difference between the two prices is, in effect, the interest you pay for the plan. A plan with no discount for cash is worth more to you than one where full payment earns a large reduction.
How to judge an off-plan offer
Compare the price with finished flats nearby
Look up the resale price of similar finished flats in the same district. If the off-plan price plus finishing is not clearly below it, there is no discount to earn.
Check the developer
Completed buildings, delivery record, land rights and permit, as in our guide to checking a developer.
Check the stage and the sold share
A building whose frame is up and whose flats are mostly sold carries less risk than a hole in the ground, and usually costs more.
Model the instalments
Write the schedule month by month next to the construction stages and your own cash, including a delay of a year.
Price the finishing
Get a written quote for finishing and furniture and add it to the price before you compare anything.
Fix the protections in the contract
Delivery date and penalty, preliminary ownership registration, refund and the right to assign, as set out in our developer contract checklist.
Plan the exit
Decide now whether you will let, live in or sell the flat after completion, and test that plan against the rents and resale prices of today.
The risks that decide the outcome
- Delay. Every year of delay is a year without rent and with your money committed. Georgia has no statutory penalty for a developer's delay; only the contract creates one.
- A building that is never finished. Ruinous when it happens. The developer's record and your contract's exit clause are the defences.
- Competing with the developer at the exit. If you resell soon after completion, you may be selling against the developer's own unsold flats, often on better payment terms than yours.
- Supply. 87,000 flats were under construction in Tbilisi in early 2026, and Batumi's unsold stock is high. A large pipeline caps prices and rents when it is delivered.
- Specification. A finished building that differs from the brochure, if the specification annex was vague.
- Currency. Prices are in dollars; your costs at home may not be.
Selling before completion
Some investors plan to sell their contract before the building is finished, taking the price rise without ever owning the flat. That works only if the contract allows you to transfer your rights, if the developer's fee for that is known, and if a buyer prefers your contract to the developer's own remaining flats. Until the building is commissioned and the unit registered, what you sell is a contractual right, not a registered property, so the next buyer will check your contract and the developer as carefully as you did.
When does off-plan fit, and when does it not?
| Situation | Off-plan? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| You need rent from next year | No | A finished flat earns from the day it is let |
| You can wait three years and pay in instalments | Possibly | Time and instalments are what off-plan rewards |
| You want a residence permit soon | Usually no | The permit needs registered ownership |
| You cannot afford a year's delay | No | Delays happen, and you would carry them |
| You know the developer's completed buildings | More likely | The record is the best evidence you will get |
Risks and exceptions
- Comparing an off-plan price with a finished one. Add the finishing first.
- Extrapolating the boom years. 2023's 20% was not 2025's 4%.
- An instalment plan you can only afford if nothing goes wrong. Model a year's delay.
- Counting on a quick resale. The developer may still be selling the same flats.
Frequently asked questions
Is off-plan cheaper than a finished flat in Georgia?
Often, but compare like with like. In Tbilisi most new-build prices are for white frame, so add finishing before comparing with a finished resale flat.
How much of a building is usually sold before completion?
In surveyed Tbilisi projects due in 2026, 72% of flats were already sold by early 2026; in Batumi, 74% for the same completion year.
Do developers offer instalment plans?
Yes. Galt & Taggart reports that most sales in surveyed Tbilisi projects completed in 2025 went through developers' own instalment schemes.
Can I get a residence permit with an off-plan flat?
Not until you own it. The permit requires registered ownership of non-agricultural property worth more than $150,000.
What tax applies if I sell after completion?
An individual's gain on selling a residential flat is taxed at 5%, and a home held for more than two years is exempt; ask an accountant when the period starts for an off-plan flat.
What happens if the developer is late?
Only what your contract says. Without a penalty and an exit clause, you can wait without compensation.
Before you sign, read how to check a developer and the twelve clauses of a developer contract.
Sources
- Tbilisi Residential Real Estate, 2025 full-year overview, Galt & Taggart, 30 January 2026 (accessed 12 October 2026)
- G&T: Tbilisi residential market has a strong start, Georgia Today, 31 March 2026 (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Batumi Residential Real Estate, 2Q26 overview, Galt & Taggart, 14 August 2026 (accessed 12 October 2026)
- There are currently 87,000 apartments under construction in Tbilisi, Colliers Georgia via CBW (accessed 10 October 2026)
- Buying property in a new development in Georgia, Just Advisors, 15 April 2025 (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Tax Code of Georgia (Articles 81 and 82), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
Change log
- - Guide published from Galt & Taggart's developer surveys and price series, Colliers' pipeline figure and the Tax Code; scenarios are our illustration.