According to Galt & Taggart, by 2028, Batumi's real estate market will add 50,000 investment properties, which will require a minimum 15% annual growth in tourist numbers to maintain occupancy.
As Zuka Tavkelishvili, an associate researcher at the investment bank, stated in an interview with "Real Estate Prospect," that the main risks of the real estate market are related to achieving these indicators.
Galt&Taggart believes that tapping into Asian markets is the most promising direction in this regard.
"Given the turbulent situation, it's difficult to make any short-term forecasts, but when we talk about expectations, the main factor here is supply.
As of 2023, there were 108,000 residential apartments in the city, and we expect that by 2028, half as many will be added, meaning up to 50,000 new apartments will appear. A large portion of these apartments are investment properties and will be listed on Airbnb and booking.com. Such increased supply will need a flow of tourists to occupy these apartments, and if this doesn't happen, it will be reflected in reduced investment attractiveness.
According to our calculations, to maintain occupancy for such supply, a minimum 15% annual growth in tourist numbers will be necessary. 15% is quite a large number, and various measures need to be implemented to achieve this. It's essential to develop new tourist markets. We see Asia as the most promising, particularly the Chinese and Indian markets, which are the fastest-growing in the world," - stated Tavkelishvili.
