About the city
Kobuleti is a seaside resort on the west coast of Georgia, located in Adjara. It is located about 25 kilometers north of Batumi. The city's population is just over 17,000 people. Kobuleti has an ancient history, its territory was inhabited in ancient times. The name of the area comes from the Gurian Kobulidze family, whose representatives owned these lands until the XIII century. The culture of the region shows a close intertwining of Georgian and Adjarian traditions.
Kobuleti is famous for its beautiful nature, mild climate and resort atmosphere. The first sanatorium was opened here at the very beginning of the twentieth century. At that time, the generals of the Russian Empire liked to spend time on the local magnetic sands. With the advent of Soviet power, sanatoriums and generals' dachas were converted into boarding houses and rest homes. During the Soviet era, Kobuleti gained fame as one of the best Black Sea resorts. Over time, Soviet health resorts fell into disrepair. But in recent decades, the city has been actively developing its tourist infrastructure. Modern hotels of various categories, guesthouses are being built here, apartment rentals for any budget are flourishing.
The city itself is distinguished by its special hospitality and friendly attitude towards guests. The crime rate is low here, which makes this place safe to live and relax.
The main advantages of Kobuleti:
- clean sea and beaches;
- picturesque nature;
- comfortable climate;
- absence of overpopulation and tourist crowds;
- opportunities for a relaxing holiday;
- proximity to Batumi;
- good ecology;
- security; reasonable prices for renting and buying real estate.
Climate
The mild subtropical climate makes Kobuleti comfortable to live in all year round. Average temperatures in winter rarely fall below +6°C, and in summer they reach +26°C. There is practically no sweltering heat here, and the abundance of greenery contributes to comfortable walks even on hot days. In the evenings, the coolness of the mountains descends on the city. It rains in Adjara all year round, but rarely lasts for a long time. The beach season here lasts a long time, from about May to early October.
Urban infrastructure
In 2010, the Government of Georgia awarded Kobuleti the status of a free tourist zone. Thanks to a special government program, investors were provided with tax incentives and assistance in laying communications for new developments. This was a great impetus for the renewal of the city. Now it is developing dynamically: New hotels, restaurants, and entertainment centers are being built. Although, of course, Kobuleti is a small city, therefore it is significantly inferior to Batumi in terms of urban and tourist infrastructure.
The main streets run parallel to the sea, so it's impossible to get lost here.On the central street named after David Agmashenebeli has numerous souvenir shops, cafes, restaurants, bars. Here you can taste both European cuisine and traditional Georgian dishes: khachapuri, yahni, majuni, sinori, malakhto.Russian Russian language library and a secondary school with a Russian sector are located in Kobuleti. There are two such schools in Batumi, but they are overcrowded. But it is quite possible to enroll a child in a Kobulet school. Not far from the city there is a chic Black Sea Arena concert hall, where world stars come to give concerts.
Transport
Kobuleti's public transport is represented by minibuses. You can also travel around the city by taxi. Trains and buses connecting Tbilisi and Batumi pass through Kobuleti. It is also not difficult to get to other Georgian cities. The nearest airport is in Batumi.
Tourism
Kobuleti is a small town and not crowded with tourists. Everything here is conducive to a relaxing family holiday: warm sea and beaches, clean air saturated with marine minerals and coniferous phytoncides, bike paths, orange and tangerine groves, historical attractions. The city is surrounded by green hills and pine forests, which creates favorable conditions for ecotourism. A 10-kilometer beach line stretches along the city. Due to such a large length, tourists will be able to find for themselves both sections with small and large pebbles, as well as small sandy areas.
Kobuleti for vacationers is a golden mean between small seaside towns like Ureki, Gonio, Kvariati and noisy, tourist-saturated such as Batumi. The prices for holidays here are low. There are not as many restaurants, cafes, guest houses and various entertainment options as in the capital of Adjara, but there are enough of them to have a good time.
A separate tourist destination is wellness recreation.There are beaches with magnetic sands in the vicinity of the resort, which have a healing effect. Many people come here to restore their health with the help of balneo and heliotherapy. SPA hotels and boarding houses offering wellness services operate in Kobuleti and the surrounding areas.
The peculiarity of the city is seasonality. Most cafes, restaurants and entertainment start working only with the onset of summer and close again at the end of September. In winter, the flow of tourists decreases noticeably, the city becomes less lively.
Attractions and entertainment
Kobuleti is considered a quiet, peaceful town, more designed for family holidays. But young people will not be bored here either. The resort has bars, discos, and nightclubs. Extreme sports enthusiasts have the opportunity to go rafting on mountain rivers.
Guests of the city can visit the amusement park "Tsitsinatela" with its carousels and attractions, the nature reserve of Spain with its peat bogs, the Byzantine fortress of Petra, immersed in greenery, the park museum "Georgia in miniature", where more than 50 miniatures of famous Georgian attractions are collected. Palaces, fortresses, religious buildings.
There are two Adjarian national parks near Kobuleti - Mtirala and Kintrishi, where the natural resources of the region are concentrated: picturesque healing springs, mountain rivers, relict Colchis forest. The local history museum of the city contains interesting archaeological finds and ancient artifacts.
Real estate market: features, prices, promising areas
In Kobuleti, there is a ban on the construction of high-rise buildings, so low-rise buildings prevail here. Residential real estate of the resort is represented by cottages, villas, houses with a maximum of 5 floors. Kobuleti attracts home buyers primarily with affordable prices. Here they are significantly lower than in Batumi. In the vicinity of the city, you can purchase a plot with a compact house near the sea for the price of a small Batumi apartment, or buy a plot and build a house on it.
Almost all real estate buyers are either English-speaking Europeans or CIS citizens who visited here in Soviet times and now retired would like to settle in the old part of the city.
At the moment, a large urban development plan is being implemented in Kobuleti. The market is developing, it includes large developers. For example, right now the Alliance Group is conducting large-scale construction on the first coastline. In addition to the development, infrastructure is also being developed, so after the completion of construction, real estate here will definitely increase in price.
The city is being intensively built up not only by developers, but also by private individuals. People are building housing both for personal use and for future resale. Many people build several houses on one site at once for this purpose.
New buildings are also present on the market, but there are not so many of them. They are mainly concentrated on the first and second coastlines. Apart-hotels are also located there, where apartments are being sold for rent. Such real estate is popular among foreign investors.
Since the city center is located at a distance from the beaches, it is more suitable for shopping for personal use. Although, due to the compactness of the city, you can walk to the sea from almost any area.
The surroundings of Kobuleti are also quite interesting and promising from the point of view of buying a home. There are old Greek settlements, there are several rivers, and very beautiful nature. For the purchase of real estate, it is worth considering the areas closest to KobuletiBobokwati, Tsikhisdziri, Ureki and Magneti with their magnetic sands. In the immediate vicinity of Kobuleti itself there is a beautiful area of Hutsubani, you can also consider Upper Kobuleti; there are many picturesque places with views of the sea, rivers, mountains. Near the city there is a small resort village of Kvirike, where there is everything for a great holiday - arboretum, coniferous plants, magnetic beaches. There are a lot of options for those who are looking for a plot of land for construction.
Studio apartments in Kobuleti cost from 40,000 to 60,000 dollars. Options with 1-3 bedrooms start from 80,000 and can reach up to 150,000 dollars. For this price, you can rent a nice apartment with a new renovation.
If we talk about houses, then plots with old buildings that require significant restoration cost from $50,000 and above. The larger the plot size, the higher the price. Prices for new houses with high-quality repairs start from $ 150,000. The average price of such a property is $200,000-$250,000.
Forecasts and investment potential of the region
Interest in Georgia as a tourist destination has only been growing in recent years. With the development of tourist infrastructure, the potential of local real estate is also growing. At the height of the season, the prices for renting apartments in Kobuleti are comparable to those in Batumi. Renting housing to vacationers is the main activity and source of income for the local population.
Buyers and investors are not asleep. Statistics show that in the 1st quarter of 2024, the number of registered transactions on the Kobuleti market increased by 24.1% compared to the same period last year. The number of transactions has increased in both the primary and secondary markets. Developers are also actively entering the market. At this stage, all major developers are investing in Kobuleti, buying land for future projects. The average cost in investment projects under construction is $ 1,100 per sq. m. Prices are still at a low start, but in a year or two the average cost per square meter will be 20-30% higher than now.
It can be concluded that the Kobuleti real estate market is quite promising. Due to the resort's attractiveness, developing infrastructure and affordable prices, it opens up great opportunities for investors. Especially when you consider that there is practically no free land left in Batumi. The market there is oversaturated and prices remain at a high level. They can reach 1000-1500 dollars per square meter in the city itself, and in the old part of Batumi they can reach 3000-6000 per square meter.
Buying a property in Kobuleti can be recommended both to investors who look to the future, and to people who appreciate tranquility and want to live in a quiet resort town, closer to nature.
Thank you for the help in preparing the material of our experts in Georgia:
Davit Mosalsky, General Manager, and Anna Campbell, Public Relations Specialist, agency Real Batumi
Irina Dugantsova, real estate specialist, and Yulia Titova, General Director, agency Rentsale
