The prices in Yerevan are high because it's such a small city that saw hundreds of thousands of people moving to it due to the war along the border with Azerbaijan. So many people lost their homes and got displaced and forced to move. It started around 2020 if I recall, and the city has been slowly trying to adapt and build more homes to house them with the increased demand. And then alongside that the war in Ukraine led to a large sum of Russians that also moved there. Poor Armenia can't catch a break. The Russians chose it because Tbilisi has a more unwelcoming atmosphere for them whereas Armenians have it in their culture to just be nice to everyone.
I'm going back to Armenia in a few weeks and I miss it so much it's unreal. I've been planning to move back but that slightly higher cost of rent has me getting some finances together a bit more first. Living in Tbilisi is stressful. It's insanely expensive and the quality of life is utterly miserable in comparison to Yerevan. I miss the nights of sleep without hearing cars backfiring through the streets all night. Where people don't push in queues and people actually say hi and goodbye to you in cafes. I can't say I like Tbilisi due to how Americanised and chaotic it feels, to be honest. My favourite time in the past year and a half was the 8 months I spent in Armenia.