What do 87,000 apartments under construction mean for Tbilisi?
They mean a buyer's market in new flats for several years. The figure comes from Colliers Georgia, whose head of research said in spring 2026 that about 87,000 apartments were under construction in Tbilisi, 84% more than in 2021, and that supply "significantly exceeds demand". At the 20,961 sales by developers registered in 2025, that is about four years of primary sales. Prices have not fallen: Galt & Taggart's new-build average rose to $1,426 per m² in July 2026. But developers compete with instalment plans and discounts, rents have stopped rising, and a resold flat meets many new ones.
This page looks at where the figure comes from, what the official data on permits, completions and sales show, what the National Bank says about the risk, and what it means for someone buying to let or to sell later. Where in the city the new building is concentrated is covered in our district ranking.
Where the 87,000 comes from
The number was given by Levan Chikava, head of research at Colliers Georgia, in an interview with the business outlet Business Partner, reported by CBW in spring 2026. Colliers has not published how it counts: whether the figure includes every permitted project or only sites under way, and whether it covers individual houses. No other analyst, Geostat or the National Bank publishes a count of flats under construction. As a rough check, TBC Capital's permitted residential area for 2021-2025, about 5.9 million m², is equivalent to roughly 91,000 flats at the average flat size TBC's own figures imply; this is our arithmetic and shows only that 87,000 is a plausible order of magnitude.
Permits: a decade of approvals
| Year | Area | Permits |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,231 | 311 |
| 2017 | 1,513 | 312 |
| 2019 | 1,204 | 235 |
| 2021 | 1,530 | 219 |
| 2022 | 1,422 | 219 |
| 2023 | 1,940 | 258 |
| 2024 | 1,810 | 233 |
| 2025 | 1,734 | 208 |
| January-July 2026 | 1,001 | 111 |
The jump came after the 2022 demand surge: in 2023-2025 an average of about 1.83 million m² a year was approved, against about 1.31 million in 2015-2022. Galt & Taggart notes that permit issuance responded to the 2022 boom but "has yet to fully realign with the lower post-peak sales". Fewer, larger projects now account for the area: 208 permits in 2025 against 311 in 2015. In the first seven months of 2026 the permitted area was almost exactly the same as a year earlier, after a rebound in June and July. Geostat's own permit series, which also counts individual houses and measures total floor space, is much larger (5.4 million m² in 2025), so the two series should never be mixed.
Completions: what has actually been finished
| Year | Buildings | Area, m² |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 717 | 1,229,739 |
| 2020 | 481 | 585,423 |
| 2021 | 577 | 569,119 |
| 2022 | 856 | 1,672,884 |
| 2023 | 869 | 2,125,848 |
| 2024 | 1,120 | 1,950,169 |
| 2025 | 978 | 1,768,848 |
| January-June 2026 | 395 | 679,980 |
Completed residential area peaked in 2023 and has fallen since; the first half of 2026 was 10.6% below the first half of 2025. Geostat counts buildings and area, not flats, and only buildings formally put into operation, so the real number of flats handed over is not published. On Geostat's own basis, the residential area completed in 2023-2025 was only about a third of the area permitted in the same years, which shows how much approved building is still in the pipeline.
Sales: how fast the new flats are bought
| Year | From developers | Resales | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 17,589 | 21,791 | 39,380 |
| 2024 | 19,934 | 20,703 | 40,637 |
| 2025 | 20,961 | 21,427 | 42,388 |
Developer sales are growing: registrations were up 19.9% in the first seven months of 2026, and the developers in Galt & Taggart's survey sold 6,930 flats in that period, 30.1% more than a year earlier. Most of this has been sold on developers' own instalment plans, which Galt & Taggart describes as their "most refined" yet. The sell-through of projects under construction has improved over 2026:
| Completion | January 2026 | July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 72% | 79% |
| 2027 | 61% | 66% |
| 2028-2029 | 45% | 59% |
So a large part of the 87,000 is already sold to buyers who will move in or let their flats; the unsold part is what developers must still find buyers for. Neither figure is published in units, so the true unsold stock in Tbilisi is not known.
Four ways of counting supply
Supply figures for Tbilisi are often quoted side by side as if they measured the same thing. They do not:
- Flats under construction (Colliers). A count of units, about 87,000, with no published method.
- Permitted living area (Galt & Taggart). Living and balcony area in permits for larger multi-apartment and multifunctional buildings: 1,734 thousand m² in 2025.
- Permitted residential area (TBC Capital). The same kind of buildings but residential area only: between 1.22 and 1.26 million m² in 2025, depending on the issue. TBC converts it into "potential supply" of flats, 10,945 for January-July 2026.
- Permitted and completed space (Geostat). All residential buildings including individual houses, as declared: 5.4 million m² permitted and 1.77 million m² completed in Tbilisi in 2025.
Each is useful on its own terms; a growth rate or ratio is only meaningful within one series. When an article says supply rose or fell, check which of the four it is using.
How Batumi compares
Batumi's pipeline is smaller in absolute terms but larger relative to its market. Galt & Taggart's October 2025 study counted about 58,000 flats in projects due in 2025-2029, most of them built for investors, and its August 2026 report described unsold stock as high and "indicating oversupply pressures". In its survey of Batumi developers, 74% of flats in projects due in 2026 were sold, against 79% in Tbilisi. The difference is the buyer: Tbilisi's new flats are mostly bought by local households who will live in them, Batumi's mostly by investors who will compete to let them. Our Batumi zone guide shows where the pipeline sits.
What the National Bank says
The National Bank of Georgia's Financial Stability Report 2025 states that years of high demand raised the number of construction permits and that "maintaining a high level of supply under normalized demand conditions could pose risks of oversupply". It reported loans to real estate developers growing 25% a year as of June 2025 and named construction as the sector with the highest share of loss-making companies, 32.4% in 2023. The bank says it has given banks principles for financing developers and for mortgages on unfinished flats, and in October 2025 its governor ruled out easing those rules to help developers. At the same time the bank sees limited external risk in Tbilisi, where about 90% of demand comes from Georgian residents.
We found no law or National Bank rule requiring developers to hold buyers' payments in escrow, and pre-sale funding remains the usual way new projects are financed. Our guide to off-plan investment explains what protects a buyer instead.
Who will live in the new flats
- Population. The 2024 census counted 1,331,485 people in Tbilisi, 20.1% more than in 2014.
- Migration. Georgia's net migration was +54,509 in 2022, -39,207 in 2023, +14,386 in 2024 and +17,127 in 2025; the National Bank notes that the migration effect on demand has faded.
- Mortgages. Banks issued GEL 3.58 billion of new mortgages in January-July 2026, 46.5% more than a year earlier, according to National Bank data reported in the press.
- Buyers. Three in four flats sold by developers between January and July 2026 went to Georgian citizens (74%).
Demand is broad and mostly local, which is why analysts expect competition rather than a crash: Galt & Taggart expects single-digit price growth that "will largely depend on the supply side", TBC Capital forecast prices up 3.2% and rents down about 2.1% in 2026, and Colliers expected no correction in prices per m² in 2026.
What it means for a buyer
- Negotiate. With many projects competing, ask for discounts for upfront payment, longer instalment plans or included finishing, and compare several buildings.
- Choose the building first. In a crowded market, location, construction quality and management decide which flats let and resell.
- Expect flat rents. New supply holds rents back; do not assume rent growth in your numbers.
- Plan the exit. When you sell, you will compete with developers still selling new flats nearby, often on instalments.
- Check the developer. Pre-sales fund construction, so the developer's record and finances are your main protection.
Lessons from stalled projects
Tbilisi has seen what happens when a developer fails. The city's programme for families harmed by the Center Point collapse and similar housing-cooperative schemes had housed more than 2,500 of about 3,500 affected families by July 2026, with the last projects due by 2029. Separately, City Hall was reviewing in 2025 the commissioning of 230 completed multi-apartment buildings, home to about 10,000 families, that had never been formally put into operation. We found no named developer failure in reputable media in 2024-2026, and bankers quoted in October 2025 said the problems were limited to small developers.
Risks and exceptions
- Oversupply. About four years of developer sales are under construction.
- Unknown stock. No source counts unsold flats in Tbilisi.
- Flat rents. New supply limits rent growth.
- Developer risk. Projects are funded by pre-sales without escrow.
- Resale competition. Sellers compete with new flats on instalments.
Frequently asked questions
How many flats are under construction in Tbilisi?
About 87,000, according to Colliers Georgia in spring 2026; no official count exists.
How long would it take to sell them?
About four years at the 2025 pace of developer sales, though many are already sold.
Will prices fall?
Analysts expect slower growth, not a fall: TBC Capital forecast +3.2% for 2026.
Are rents rising?
No; TBC Capital expected rents about 2.1% lower in 2026.
How much is being built each year?
About 1.8 million m² of permits a year in 2023-2025 on Galt & Taggart's basis.
How much was completed in 2025?
1,768,848 m² of residential buildings, according to Geostat.
Does the National Bank see a risk?
Yes; its 2025 report warns of possible oversupply as demand normalises.
Are buyers' payments protected by escrow?
No such rule was found; the contract and the developer's record are the protection.
Sources
- There are currently 87,000 apartments under construction in Tbilisi - Colliers Georgia, CBW, 2026 (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Tbilisi Residential Real Estate, 2025 Full Year Overview, Galt & Taggart (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Tbilisi Residential Real Estate, July 2026, Galt & Taggart (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Residential Real Estate in Tbilisi, March 2026 Monthly Watch, TBC Capital (accessed 18 October 2026)
- TBC Capital presents research at International Real Estate Forum, Georgia Today, 10 February 2026 (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Colliers forecast: housing prices to remain stable in 2026, International Investment, 6 December 2025 (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Permissions granted for construction by types of facilities, Geostat (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Completed construction objects by types of facilities, Geostat (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Financial Stability Report 2025, National Bank of Georgia (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Developers count the cost of regulatory relaxation, GBC, 27 October 2025 (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Main results of the 2024 Population and Agricultural Census, Geostat (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Number of population as of 1 January 2026, Geostat (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Mortgage lending in Georgia increased by nearly 50%, International Investment, 8 September 2026 (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Tbilisi mayor on housing for cooperative scam victims, First Channel, 20 July 2026 (accessed 18 October 2026)
- Tbilisi reviewing commissioning of 230 residential buildings, BM.ge, 6 August 2025 (accessed 18 October 2026)
Change log
- - Data page published from Colliers (via CBW), Galt & Taggart, TBC Capital, Geostat permits and completions, the National Bank's Financial Stability Report 2025 and the 2024 census.