Indonesia's property sales growth is expected to accelerate this year to 10-12 % this year and new amendments to ownership regulations could impact your situation! This month is filled with property news. Before we get into that we would like to take the time to wish you a happy and prosperous 2016! We hope to be at your service as we have continued to be in the last 10+ years. With that out of the way let’s get into the more interesting part: On Monday 18th of January, Eddy Hussy, the chairman of property industry group “Realestate Indonesia (REI), stated that Indonesia’s property sales growth is expected to accelerate to 10-12 % from 7-8 % last year. Hussy told reporters in Jakarta that the improvement in economic growth, the implementation of government stimulus packages, combined with infrastructure development will help rise sales the year.

The main factor is the high possibility of decreasing interest rates in Indonesia during 2016. The positive liquidity caused the Indonesian banks in Indonesia to stop the policy of high interest rates. Only about December, banks will be very keen to offer high interest rates to meet the end-of-year incoming funds. That did not happen this year. This proves, banks have ample liquidity. The Bank of Indonesia also issued two policy strategies that are sure to have a positive influence in the property market. The first is the abolition of the regulation for multi level Loans To Value, for the first house, second house and more. As the reader may recall from our article last year (link above), this regulation is one of the major factors leading to the decrease of the property market in 2015. Now this regulation has been revoked. Gone for good. In consequence, domestic buyers will be encouraged and more active again.

How do you know whether a renovation is a good investment? Well, our experience, statistics and research shows that... -when renovating a house, the basics are the most important. If you have a leaking roof, or broken drains, people will not likely be very interested in your house- not even when you have a beautiful kitchen and/or bathroom. Make sure the basics are fixed and solid! -you really need to consider the value you will receive from the project of renewal over any cost recovery that may be available from sale. Research local real estate guides to determine which projects are most likely to pay for themselves. In Bali, new home owners love a pool! Adding this to your villa project will dramatically increase the total worth of your property. -it pays to look at the area and its landscape, creating a unique garden atmosphere in a semi- concrete area will increase your worth like nobody’s business. Integrate beautiful architectural touches in your renewed living area (like adding a Javanese style ceiling) will give your villa the uniqueness and cozy atmosphere buyers might like. Be careful not to go overboard with wanting to be unique: if your house is too one of a kind it might be difficult to appeal to the general buyer’s market.

according to a new regulation imposed by Bank Indonesia, all values for goods or services, consequentially also for property, have to be displayed in Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) from 1 July 2015 on. If you want to find out more, please read the following publication. There are severe penalties being introduced, should a transaction not be made in Indonesian Rupiah, except for in a very limited range of exemptions. That leaves businesses with no choice other than to comply. That is why we have to display all the prices on our website in IDR, however it is still possible to see an equivalent in another currency (as all the zero's may be a bit too much for some of us). The actual payment transfer to overseas will also be more complex and may incur an exchange rate loss of 1.3 to 2%. However, as this is a new regulation we may have to see if that indeed is a feasible policy being continued by the Government - or not.

In 2013 an average of 95% of home buyers were using the internet to find their potential new home. This means that the photo that represents your house online is the first and maybe only impression it leaves! Make sure it is a good one and let the photo of your property do the talking for you! Why is it so important to have good photos of your property? 1. Professional photos receive more clicks than ‘DYI’ photos A Professional photographer knows how to take the shot from the right angle, and to shoot at the right time of day. Tidy up the sheets and having professional equipment to be able to catch the lighting in the right places. Naturally we are not suggesting to use photography to provide customers with false impressions.