New Build or Resale in Tbilisi

At a glance

Prices

Galt & Taggart tracks prices separately for apartments sold by developers (in white frame) and for the resale market in buildings built under permits issued after 2013. In June 2026, an apartment from a developer cost on average 5% more per m².

• Growth in 2025: new builds +4%, resale in newer buildings +7.9% (Galt & Taggart, December 2025).
• Geostat’s official index for Tbilisi new builds: +4.9% year on year (Q2 2026).
• 2025 sales: 42,388 transactions, about half of them apartments from developers.

Prices by district and apartment type are in our guide “Tbilisi apartment prices”.

What condition the apartment comes in

New builds in Tbilisi are usually handed over in one of three states. Geostat tracks them separately in its statistics, but the law does not define the exact scope of work — it is set out in the contract with the developer.

• Black frame — the bare shell of the apartment: walls not plastered, floor not screeded.
• White frame — the most common option: plastered walls, a floor screed, utilities run to the apartment. Final finishing is still needed.
• Green frame — more done than in white frame, so less work is left before you move in.

Resale apartments are more often sold renovated, and sometimes furnished — you can move in or rent them out right away.

Payment: installment plan or mortgage

New build. The main way to buy is a developer installment plan: 0–10% down, the balance in installments until completion, with no bank and no income check. According to Galt & Taggart, in projects completed in 2025, 94% of apartments were sold through developer installment plans. There are also bank products for apartments from partner developers — for example, Liberty Bank’s “Apartment with the developer” (from 7.5% in US dollars, with a foreign-currency term of up to 10 years) and TBC Bank’s simplified mortgage.

Resale. Buyers pay the full amount upfront or take out a mortgage. Under National Bank rules, a foreign-currency mortgage is issued for 10 years at most, and since July 1, 2026, loans of up to GEL 1 million to borrowers without income in the same currency are issued in lari only. For foreigners with income from abroad, TBC Bank’s down payment starts at 20%.

Bank terms in detail are in our guide “Mortgages in Georgia for foreigners”.

Risks

New build

• Deadlines. The building may be completed late, or construction may be frozen. Georgia has no special law on off-plan sales by developers — the general rules of the Civil Code apply, so the deadlines and the penalty need to be written into the contract.
• Protection against double sale. The Law on Public Registry allows your right under the contract to be preliminarily registered: while that entry is in place, no other right to the apartment can be registered.
• What to check about the developer before reserving is covered in our guide “Buying an apartment off-plan”.

Resale

• Building condition. According to Tbilisi City Hall, the city has more than 10,000 dilapidated buildings. Before buying in an older building, it’s worth checking the year it was built and its status.
• Legal history. You need an up-to-date Public Registry extract: the owner, mortgages, seizures and other encumbrances.

Which to choose

• You need an apartment now — resale or a completed building: no waiting for construction or renovation.
• You don’t have the full amount — a new build with a developer installment plan: payments are spread out until completion.
• You want to rent it out — both options work. The average rental yield in Tbilisi is about 8.5% a year (Galt & Taggart, June 2026); no one publishes it separately for new builds and resale. More in our guide “Rental yield on an apartment”.

FAQ