On 21 December, the “Forbes” magazine senior contributor Amy Dobson named Georgia’s seaside town of Batumi among the “Best European Cities to Invest in for 2020”.  

“At the moment there are no height restrictions on new buildings so developers and buyers alike are maximizing on the opportunity. According to data from a Batumi expert, new construction homes cost approximately $37 per square foot and the majority of buyers in this city are from overseas. An estimated 22,752 homes (including single-family and condos) were built over 2018 to 2019 as a response to the increased demand,“ stood in the description.

Dobson reached out to LeadingRE, a global consortium of 565 real estate brokerages across 70 countries, to see which cities were showing signs of real estate growth but hadn’t yet surpassed the threshold for turning a profit. “With plenty of land available in Batumi and little restriction on development, new projects are popping up in the city to cater for the uplift in demand,” said Chris Dietz, Executive Vice President of Global Operations for LeadingRE.  “Investors, also from neighbouring Turkey, are attracted to the 2,000-year history and culture as well as the favourable prices compared to other more well-known European coastal hubs,” he added.

Beside Batumi, the cities of Naples (Italy), Megeve (France), Szekesfehervar (Hungary), Porto (Portugal) and Rotterdam (Holland) were named as lucrative investment resorts for 2020.