Property in Georgia's resorts: the complete guide

Georgia's resort property market, on one screen

Beyond Tbilisi and Batumi, Georgia has a string of resort markets: ski resorts in the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, seaside towns along the Black Sea coast north of Batumi, spa towns in wooded valleys, and wine villages in Kakheti. Foreign buyers come to them for different reasons than to the cities. Most buy a resort apartment or house for their own holidays first and income second, and many are drawn by prices that look low compared with Alpine or Mediterranean resorts. Both instincts can be right. But resort markets are smaller, more seasonal and less liquid than the cities, published data on them are thinner, and the rules on land matter more when you buy a house with a garden or a vineyard rather than a flat in a tower. This guide covers what is known about each resort market, how a resort year works, what the agricultural land rule means outside the cities, and how to choose property you will enjoy and still be able to sell.

The table says something important in its last column. For most of Georgia's resorts there is no regular, published market data comparable to Galt & Taggart's Tbilisi and Batumi reports. Prices are set deal by deal, listings show asking prices rather than sale prices, and a buyer has less evidence to rely on. That is not a reason to avoid resorts, but it is a reason to check comparables yourself and to buy what you would happily own for years.

How to choose resort property

Resort purchases go wrong for predictable reasons: bought on a perfect holiday, priced against the city, run without a plan for the empty months. The steps below put those risks in front of the decision rather than after it.

1. Decide whose holidays it is for

   Your own, other people's, or both. Personal use in peak season costs the best weeks of income, so decide the split before you choose a property.

2. Choose the season you want

   Ski resorts earn in winter, seaside resorts in summer, wine and spa towns more evenly. Pick the resort for the months you will actually use or let it.

3. Visit out of season

   See the resort when it is empty: which buildings are lit, which shops are open, how the roads and the building cope with snow or rain.

4. Choose the building and its management

   In a resort the building's management decides more than in a city: heating, snow clearing, security and the care of empty apartments.

5. Check comparables yourself

   With thin published data, ask for recent sale prices in the same building or village, not only asking prices.

6. Check the land

   For a house, a plot or a vineyard, confirm the land category: agricultural land cannot be bought by foreigners.

7. Run the legal check

   Before paying, have a lawyer acting for you check the title, the permits and the contract, exactly as in a city purchase.

The resort map: snow, sea, spa and wine

Georgia's resorts fall into four families, and each behaves differently as a property market.

Ski resorts. Gudauri on the Greater Caucasus and Bakuriani in the Lesser Caucasus are the two established ski markets with published data. Mestia in Svaneti also has ski areas. Property is mostly apartments in purpose-built buildings and aparthotels, bought for winter use and winter letting.

The Black Sea coast beyond Batumi. Kobuleti, north of Batumi in Adjara, is the largest of the smaller seaside markets and the only one in Galt & Taggart's regular reports. Further north, Ureki in Guria and Shekvetili and Anaklia towards Samegrelo are summer resorts with a shorter season and fewer services in winter.

Spa and forest towns. Borjomi, famous for its mineral water and surrounded by forest, is a year-round destination with a gentler, smaller market, and it is the gateway to Bakuriani.

Wine country. Kakheti, with Sighnaghi and Telavi, draws buyers looking for a house, a garden and sometimes a vineyard. Here the main legal question is land, not buildings.

Gudauri: the high-altitude ski market

Gudauri lies about 120 kilometres north of Tbilisi on the Georgian Military Highway, near the Jvari Pass. The resort base sits at about 2,196 metres and the top lift at 3,279 metres, with more than 76 kilometres of runs and 18 lifts on slopes above the tree line. The ski season runs from December to April; the 2025-26 season opened on 27 December 2025.

Galt & Taggart's latest resort figures, for the third quarter of 2024, recorded 64 apartment sales in Gudauri, down 34.7% on a year earlier, at an average of $1,417 per square metre, for a market value of $3.9 million. Small apartments made up 76.9% of sales. Those numbers describe a small, specialised market. A quarter with 64 sales means that a seller may wait for the right buyer, and that one large project coming to market can change the balance quickly.

For a buyer, Gudauri suits a specific plan: a small, well-located apartment in a managed building, used for skiing and let in the winter months, with a realistic view of the summer. The building's management matters more here than anywhere else in Georgia: heating, snow clearing, access in bad weather and the care of an apartment left empty for months decide both the guest experience and the condition of the property. Summer brings hikers, paragliders and visitors driving the Military Highway, but at lower rates and with fewer nights.

Bakuriani: the family resort

Bakuriani sits at about 1,700 metres in the Borjomi municipality, 30 kilometres from Borjomi, surrounded by conifer forest. It has two ski areas, Kokhta, with Mount Kokhta at 2,269 metres, and Didveli, whose top lift reaches 2,702 metres. Georgia's first ski base opened here in 1932, and a 37-kilometre narrow-gauge railway links the resort with Borjomi; the line is being rehabilitated and is due to resume operations in December 2026. Bakuriani hosted the 2023 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships and was the main host of the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in February 2025. The Kokhta area opened the 2025-26 season on 20 December 2025.

Galt & Taggart recorded 352 apartment sales in Bakuriani in the third quarter of 2024, up 51.1% on a year earlier, partly because of late registrations, at a weighted average of $1,035 per square metre and a market value of $16 million. Small apartments made up 78.6% of sales. Bakuriani is therefore a larger and cheaper market than Gudauri by these figures, with a gentler profile: families, beginners, forest walks and a summer season of its own.

The international events of recent years brought new infrastructure and attention to the resort. They also brought new construction, which means competition among apartments. As in Gudauri, the building, its management and its year-round care decide how well an apartment performs.

Gudauri or Bakuriani?

The data are two years old and come from one quarter, so treat them as a description of the two markets' character rather than current prices. The broader point holds: Gudauri is the smaller, higher, more specialised market; Bakuriani the larger, lower, more family-oriented one. A separate guide compares them in detail.

The coast beyond Batumi

Kobuleti. North of Batumi in Adjara, Kobuleti is a seaside resort town with a long beach and a quieter, more family-oriented summer than Batumi. Galt & Taggart includes it in its Batumi reports: 202 sales at an average turnkey price of $1,685 per square metre in the third quarter of 2025, and 167 sales at $1,731 per square metre, up 9.3% in a year, in the second quarter of 2026, with a range from $1,100 to $4,150. Kobuleti is close enough to Batumi airport to make short visits practical, and calm enough out of season to make winter a long, quiet stretch.

Ureki, Shekvetili and Anaklia. Further north, these smaller resorts are summer places with a shorter season, fewer year-round services and no regular published price data. They suit buyers looking for a holiday home on a quieter part of the coast who can live with a slow, local resale market.

All the coastal resorts share Batumi's climate questions: rain and humidity outside summer, and the need to ventilate and heat apartments left empty. The Batumi guide covers the climate and the summer letting model in detail.

Spa towns, wine country and the high mountains

Borjomi. A spa town known for its mineral water, set in forested hills and serving as the gateway to Bakuriani. Its market is small and its demand spread through the year, with a summer peak. It suits buyers who want a quiet second home rather than a rental investment.

Kakheti: Sighnaghi and Telavi. Georgia's best-known wine region draws buyers who want a house with a garden, a view of the Caucasus and sometimes vines. Here the decisive questions are about land: the category of the plot, access, water and the boundaries with neighbours, covered in the next section.

Mestia and Svaneti. The high mountain region of Svaneti, with Mestia as its centre, offers skiing in winter and trekking in summer, and Upper Svaneti is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Property here is mostly traditional houses and guesthouses; distances are long, the market is local and very thin, and buying requires particular care with titles and land.

Houses, land and vineyards: the agricultural land rule

Outside the cities, the most important legal rule for a foreign buyer is about land. Article 19(4) of the Constitution of Georgia reserves agricultural land for the State, municipalities, Georgian citizens and associations of Georgian citizens, with exceptions only by organic law. A foreigner cannot buy a plot registered as agricultural, and because in Georgian law the land and the building on it normally form one thing, a house on agricultural land carries the same restriction.

In resort and wine areas this matters constantly. A village house with a garden may sit on a plot registered as agricultural. A vineyard is, by its nature, usually agricultural land. A plot "zoned for building" in an advertisement may still be registered as agricultural in the Public Registry. The extract is the only answer that counts: it states the category of the land, and if the category is agricultural, the sale to a foreigner cannot proceed as offered.

Some routes exist and need a lawyer: buying through structures permitted by law, changing the land's category where the rules allow, or acquiring a building under a right such as superficies on land owned by someone else. Each has its own risks and costs. A dedicated guide on buying a vineyard as a foreigner, and the guide to property law for foreigners, explain the rules in detail.

Other checks matter more in the countryside than in the city: access to the plot, which should be a registered easement if it crosses a neighbour's land; water and electricity connections; boundaries that match the cadastral plan; and the construction status of the house itself.

The resort year: income in a few months

A resort property earns most of its income in a few months, and the shape of the year differs by resort. Ski apartments earn from late December to early April, with the peak around the New Year holidays and the best snow months. Seaside apartments earn in summer, most of all in July and August. Spa and wine towns spread their visitors more evenly, with peaks at holidays and, in Kakheti, at harvest.

Three rules follow. Model the income month by month, not as an annual average. Decide what the property does in the empty months: a long let where demand exists, lower rates for off-season visitors, or your own use. And budget for the costs that run all year, which in a resort are higher than in a city: heating in the mountains, dehumidifying on the coast, snow clearing, security and the care of an empty apartment.

Aparthotels and rental programmes

Many resort buildings, especially in Gudauri and Bakuriani, are sold as aparthotels or with rental programmes run by the developer or an operator. They can make sense for an owner who lives far away and wants the apartment let and cared for without effort. They also shift control: the operator sets prices, decides which apartments get bookings, charges fees and may limit your own use.

Read a rental programme as a contract. The eight questions in the Batumi guide apply equally in the mountains: who operates the programme, how income is calculated, which costs come out before you are paid, how often you may stay, how long you are bound, how you see the accounts, whether any income figure is written into the contract, and what happens if you sell. In a resort, add one more: who looks after the apartment and the building between seasons, and at whose cost.

Buying in a thin market: liquidity and resale

A quarter with 64 apartment sales, as Gudauri recorded in 2024, is a small market. In such a market, a seller may wait months for the right buyer, prices can move sharply with one new project, and the price you can achieve depends heavily on how your apartment compares with what else is for sale at that moment.

The answer is to buy what the market already buys. In both ski resorts, small apartments made up more than three quarters of sales in Galt & Taggart's figures. A small, well-located apartment in a well-managed building is the easiest resort property to sell; a large chalet or an unusual house is a lifestyle purchase that may take a long time to find its next owner. If you buy the latter, buy it for its own sake, not as an investment.

Judging a fair price is harder where few sales are published. Three sources help. Ask the seller or developer for the prices of recent sales in the same building, with the contracts or registry dates if possible. Compare asking prices for similar apartments in the same resort, remembering that asking prices are a ceiling, not a guide. And if the purchase is large or tied to a residence permit, commission a valuation from an accredited valuer before you sign, so that the price is tested by someone who does not benefit from the sale.

Building quality in the mountains and on the coast

Resort buildings face harder conditions than city ones. In the mountains they carry snow loads, freeze and thaw, and long periods with few occupants; on the coast they face rain, humidity and salt air. Construction quality, heating and ventilation therefore matter more, and problems show faster.

The checks are the same as for any new building, applied with more care. Confirm that the building has a construction permit that matches what was built and that it has been commissioned: Article 139.1 of the Spatial Planning Code forbids operating a building until its commissioning act exists, and permanent electricity and gas cannot be connected. Ask how the building is heated and who pays for heating common areas in winter. Look at the roof, the facade, the windows and the common areas after at least one winter. And ask owners who have been through a full year what went wrong and how quickly it was fixed. The guide to checking a developer lists the twenty questions worth asking before buying in any new building.

What resort buyers can learn from Batumi's data

Batumi is Georgia's largest seasonal market and the only one with detailed quarterly data, so it shows how seasonal property behaves. Galt & Taggart's report for the second quarter of 2026 recorded an average nightly rate of $34.6 for small apartments, down 4.2% on a year earlier, and a gross yield of 7.1%, down from 8.8% in 2024 as prices rose faster than nightly rates. Batumi airport recorded its busiest month ever in August 2025, handling 213,636 passengers.

Three lessons carry over to smaller resorts. Prices can rise faster than holiday rents, so yields fall even in a growing market. Income concentrates in a few peak weeks, so the quality of the low season decides the annual result. And when many similar apartments compete for the same guests, the best-managed and best-located ones keep their rates while the rest compete on price. In a smaller resort, with fewer guests and fewer buyers, each of these effects is stronger.

Resort property and the residence permit

Since 1 March 2026, owning non-agricultural property in Georgia that an accredited valuer puts at more than $150,000 can be the basis for a one-year residence permit, which is renewed for as long as the property is held. A resort apartment can meet that threshold like any other property; whether holdings in several places can be added together is not confirmed, so plan on one property above the line.

Two points need care in resorts. First, the valuation: in a thin market with few recent sales, a valuer has less evidence, and a value close to the threshold leaves little margin. Second, the land: property on agricultural land cannot be owned by a foreigner in the first place, so it cannot support a permit. The guide to a residence permit by property explains the conditions and documents.

A checklist by type of resort property

What it costs to own resort property

• Building and management. Monthly contributions in resort buildings cover heating of common areas, snow clearing, security and maintenance, and are often higher than in city buildings. Ask for the amount and the history.
• Utilities all year. Heating in winter in the mountains, and dehumidifying on the coast, run even when the apartment is empty.
• Furnishing and wear. Holiday lets wear furniture faster; ski equipment storage and drying rooms matter to guests.
• Letting costs. Cleaning, linen, platform commissions or an operator's share.
• Tax. Rental income from a home let for living in carries a 5% rate with no deductions (Tax Code, Article 81(2)); short stays may instead be taxed at a flat GEL 10 per square metre monthly, an option open until 1 January 2028, otherwise their treatment is being confirmed, and property tax applies only above a family income threshold. The guide to money and taxes covers both.

Buying a resort property from abroad

Many resort buyers live far from Georgia and visit only in season. Buying remotely is possible, and the steps are the same as in a city: a live video viewing, a lawyer's check of the title and the contract, signing through a representative with a power of attorney that names the property and limits the authority, payment bank to bank, and registration in your name. The remote purchase service describes how we organise it.

Resorts add three steps. Ask for two video viewings, one in season and one out of season, so that you see the building both full and empty. Agree the management of the property before you receive the keys, because nobody will be there to receive guests, clear snow or air the rooms if you do not arrange it. And ask the manager for a written monthly report through the first winter or summer, with photographs, so that problems are caught before they become expensive.

Getting there

Access shapes both personal use and letting. Gudauri is about two hours' drive from Tbilisi on the Georgian Military Highway, a mountain road whose winter conditions vary with the weather. Bakuriani is reached via Borjomi by road; the narrow-gauge railway is being rehabilitated and is due to reopen in December 2026. Kobuleti is a short drive from Batumi airport, which handled more than 1.2 million passengers in 2025. Kakheti's wine towns are within a few hours' drive of Tbilisi, and Svaneti is the most remote, with long road journeys. For any resort, check how a guest arriving in the evening in winter would reach the door.

Three buyers, three choices

The skiing family. A family that skis every winter wants an apartment for two weeks a year and letting the rest of the season. They choose a small two-room apartment in a managed building in Bakuriani, within walking distance of a lift, and use the building's management for letting and winter care. They accept a modest income and value the certainty of their own holidays.

The serious skier and investor. A buyer who wants high-altitude skiing and winter income chooses a studio in a well-run Gudauri aparthotel, reads the rental programme as a contract, and models income only for the winter months. They know that resale in a market of a few dozen sales a quarter will take time, and they hold for the long term.

The wine country retreat. A couple wants a house with a garden and a view in Kakheti. Their lawyer's first check is the land category, because a plot registered as agricultural cannot be sold to them. They choose a house on non-agricultural land in a village with year-round life, register the access across a neighbour's land as an easement, and buy for their own use rather than for income.

Twelve questions for a resort viewing

1. Who manages the building in the off season, and what does that cost?
2. How is the apartment heated or dehumidified, and what did last winter's bills come to?
3. How far is the nearest lift or beach, and how do guests reach it in bad weather?
4. What did comparable apartments in this building earn last season, month by month?
5. Do the building's rules allow short stays, and is there a rental programme?
6. How many similar apartments are for sale in the same building or resort?
7. What were recent sale prices, not asking prices, in this building or village?
8. For a house or plot: what category of land does the Public Registry extract show?
9. Is access to the property registered, and are the boundaries those on the cadastral plan?
10. Are water, electricity and heating connected, and by whom?
11. Is the building completed and commissioned, or still under construction?
12. Who would buy this property from me in ten years, and why?

Resorts: the detailed guides

Risks and exceptions

• Buying on a perfect holiday. A resort looks its best in season; visit when it is empty.
• Pricing against the city. Resort prices follow their own small markets, with little published data.
• Thin resale markets. A few dozen sales a quarter means a sale can take a long time.
• Agricultural land. A house, garden or vineyard on agricultural land cannot be bought by a foreigner.
• Year-round costs. Heating, snow clearing and dehumidifying run while the property earns nothing.
• Rental programme fine print. Fees, usage limits and lock-in periods decide what you actually receive.
• Access in bad weather. Guests who cannot reach the door do not return.
• "Guaranteed" income. No resort, developer or operator can guarantee bookings or returns.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a ski apartment cost in Georgia?

Galt & Taggart's latest resort figures, for the third quarter of 2024, put the average at $1,417 per square metre in Gudauri and $1,035 in Bakuriani. Prices vary by building and location, and the figures are two years old, so check recent sale prices.

Gudauri or Bakuriani: which is better to buy in?

Gudauri is higher, smaller and more specialised; Bakuriani is larger, cheaper by the published figures and more family-oriented. The better choice depends on whether you want high-altitude skiing or a forest resort for the whole family.

Can a foreigner buy a house with land or a vineyard?

Not if the land is registered as agricultural: the Constitution reserves agricultural land for the State, municipalities and Georgian citizens. Check the land category in the Public Registry extract before anything else.

Does resort property earn all year?

No. Ski apartments earn mostly from late December to early April, seaside apartments in summer. Plan the empty months and budget for year-round costs.

Is Kobuleti a cheaper alternative to Batumi?

Kobuleti's average turnkey price was $1,731 per square metre in the second quarter of 2026, according to Galt & Taggart, against $1,960 in Batumi. It is quieter and more seasonal, with a smaller resale market.

Are aparthotel rental programmes worth it?

They can suit owners who live far away, but they shift control to the operator. Read the programme as a contract: fees, usage, lock-in, accounts and what happens if you sell.

How easy is it to resell a resort apartment?

Harder than in the cities, because resort markets are small. Small apartments in well-managed buildings sell most easily; large or unusual properties can take a long time.

Do I pay tax on resort rental income?

Yes. A home let for living in is taxed at 5% of the rent, with no deductions; short stays can be put under the optional per-square-metre regime, open until the start of 2028, and otherwise the treatment is being confirmed with our accountant.

Sources

1. Galt & Taggart 3Q24 report: mixed trends in Georgia's resort real estate market, Georgia Today, 15 November 2024 (accessed 12 October 2026)
2. Batumi Residential Real Estate, Quarterly Market Watch, 2Q26, 14 August 2026 (including Kobuleti), Galt & Taggart (accessed 12 October 2026)
3. Batumi Residential Real Estate, Quarterly Market Watch, 3Q25, 14 November 2025 (including Kobuleti), Galt & Taggart (accessed 12 October 2026)
4. Gudauri, Wikipedia (accessed 12 October 2026)
5. Bakuriani, Wikipedia (accessed 12 October 2026)
6. 2025 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Wikipedia (accessed 12 October 2026)
7. Bakuriani's Kokhta ski area opens December 20, Gudauri and other resorts follow December 27, First Channel (accessed 12 October 2026)
8. Constitution of Georgia (Article 19), consolidated 29 June 2020, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 11 October 2026)
9. Tax Code of Georgia (Article 81), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
10. Batumi International Airport, passenger statistics citing the Civil Aviation Agency, Wikipedia (accessed 12 October 2026)
11. Upper Svaneti, UNESCO World Heritage Centre (accessed 12 October 2026)
12. Borjomi-Bakuriani railway to resume operations in December, Georgia Today (accessed 18 October 2026)

Change log

• 12 October 2026 - Complete guide published from Galt & Taggart resort and Batumi reports, resort data and the Constitution's agricultural land rule.