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Today's Headlines Property
Astra International, one of Indonesia's largest diversified conglomerates, announced it will develop a luxurious residential apartment complex, called Arumaya, in South Jakarta in cooperation with Hongkong Land, a Hong Kong-based multinational property investment, management and development group. The complex is estimated to require investments worth IDR 1 trillion (approx. USD $75 million).
According to commercial real estate company Colliers International Indonesia, more expatriates are renting houses in Indonesia, specifically (South) Jakarta, since the second half of 2017. The rising number of expats who rent houses in Indonesia is due to expansion plans of manufacturing and automotive companies.
The property sector of Indonesia has been sluggish ever since the nation's property boom ended in late 2013. The same goes for the office space segment. Stagnant economic growth around 5 percent (y/y) since 2014 has led to limited growth of demand for office space in Indonesia. But for some this is a positive context. Coworking space - a shared working environment - is becoming increasingly popular.
There still seems no light to appear at the end of the tunnel for ceramic manufacturers in Indonesia. The ceramic industry is largely dependent on the property sector. However, as Indonesia's property sector growth has remained insignificant so far in 2017, there is few room for ceramic sales growth. Moreover, local ceramic producers have to compete with cheap imports from abroad.
Based on accounts of services providers in Indonesia's property market, demand for office space in Indonesia, and specifically in the capital city of Jakarta, shows good growth starting from the third quarter of 2017. Especially online businesses (for example the e-commerce industry) are showing rising appetite for office space.
The Lippo Group continues to aggressively promote its ambitious Meikarta project in Indonesian media and in various strategic locations. In fact, the group claims that pre-sales of apartment units has already reached 130,000 per August 2017, an impressive number. However, the project is controversial because the developer reportedly did not obtain all necessary permits and land that is required to construct the integrated township.
As the property market in Jakarta and surrounding cities remains bleak, Indonesian property developers are eager to expand in the regions outside of the island of Java. Two examples are Batam, an island located not far from Singapore that is equipped with booming urban and industrial zones, and Medan, the biggest city on Sumatra.
So far the Lippo Group only managed to acquire 16.8% of the total land that is required to develop the ambitious Meikarta township project. Meikarta is designed to become a full-fledged township, equipped with high-class and modern residential, commercial, industrial, cultural and educational centers, located on a 500-hectare plot of land 34 kilometers to the east of Jakarta, including 100 hectares of open green space, 250,000 units of prime residential property, and 1,500,000 m2 of prime commercial space.
The Indonesian government aims to provide affordable housing for the nation's poorer (low-income) households through the One Million Houses program, a program that was launched in mid-2015 by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. However, property developers complain that in most regions it is tough to obtain all necessary permits to construct the houses.
So far this year Indonesia's "One Million Houses Program" is well on its way. Based on information from Indonesia's Public Works and Housing Ministry a total of 499,702 houses were constructed under the program in the first half of 2017, achieving 49.9 percent of the full-year target.
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Mega Manunggal Property, an Indonesia-based logistics property company that is primarily focused on the development and provision of logistics facilities related to warehouses and office buildings, is expected to see rising net income and revenue in the years ahead supported by growing demand for modern warehouses, logistics services, enhanced operational efficiency, and an increase in rental prices. Mega Manunggal Property is part of the Argo Manunggal Group, a group that is active in various sectors including textile, steel, property, mining, and insurance.
With the Indonesian government showing its commitment to push for infrastructure development, the property sector of Indonesia is expected to get a boost as infrastructure development opens access to new areas. For example, Indonesia's first high-speed train project that is to connect Jakarta and Bandung (in West Java) is expected to give rise to new economic centers and cities along the 142 kilometers-long railway. Moreover, existing property in the proximity of a new infrastructure project should lead to significantly rising property prices.
Corporate earnings of Indonesian state-controlled construction and investment company Pembangunan Perumahan (abbreviated PP) are in line with analysts' forecasts. In the first quarter of 2016, PP's revenue rose 30.6 percent (y/y) to IDR 2.58 trillion (approx. USD $195 million), while net profit rose 5 percent (y/y) to IDR 98 billion (approx. USD $7.4 million) from the same quarter one year earlier. These figures indicate the company experienced a solid start of the year.
Foreigners (expats) can buy a landed house or apartment in Indonesia (under the so-called 'right-of-use' category, locally known as hak pakai, which is weaker than the ‘right-of-ownership’ category or hak milik). However, the government set various requirements (including a minimum price). A new regulation stipulates a foreigner is not allowed to rent out his Indonesian property to other parties (authorities have the right to scrap the foreigner's 'right-of-use' title if he breaches this prohibition). Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, Indonesia's Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister, provided an update on the issue of 'foreign property ownership in Indonesia'.
The Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) advises investors and consumers not to purchase property (yet) on the artificial islands that form part of the grand USD $40 billion land reclamation project (National Capital Integrated Coastal Development, abbreviated NCICD, also known as the Giant Sea Wall) off the coast of North Jakarta. Most property developers - including Agung Podomoro Land - have already started to advertise (and sell) property units on these islands despite these developers are yet to obtain all necessary permits.
One of Indonesia's largest listed property developers - Agung Podomoro Land - saw its shares plunge 10 percent on Monday (04/04) after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the country's anti-graft agency, named the company's President Director Ariesman Widjaja a suspect in a bribery case that also involves a Jakarta legislator. Allegedly, Muhammad Sanusi, legislator of the Jakarta provincial assembly and member of Prabowo Subianto's Great Indonesia Party (Gerindra), accepted money in exchange for support related to the Pluit City project.
The decision of Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia), last week, to cut its key interest rate (BI rate) by 0.25 percent to 7.00 percent and to cut the reserve-requirement ratio for commercial banks' rupiah deposits by 1 percent to 6.5 percent is a decision that should boost household consumption in Indonesia in 2016, improve people's purchasing power, give rise to a stronger automotive and property sector, and boost liquidity at local banks (hence providing room for an acceleration of credit growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy).
Utilization of Indonesia's installed ceramic production capacity fell from 92 percent in 2014 to 62 percent in 2015, while the country's ceramic sales plunged 28.6 percent (y/y) to 350 million square meters over the same period. Elisa Sinaga, Chairman of the Indonesian Ceramic Industry Association (ASAKI), said ceramic sales have fallen over the past two years due to slowing economic growth and the sluggish property sector. Sales are expected to remain stagnant in 2016.
As cement sales in Indonesia are expected to rise nearly 10 percent (y/y) to 66.4 million tons in 2016 on the back of government-led infrastructure development, investment growth and accelerating GDP growth, three cement producers are set to benefit. The three market leaders in Indonesia's cement industry that should see higher sales are Semen Indonesia, Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa and Holcim Indonesia.
Indonesian real estate developer Bumi Serpong Damai could be one of the country's property developers that benefits the most from an improving Indonesian economy in 2016 due to the firm's availability of land reserves in a number of regions. Purchasing power is expected to accelerate, authorities eager to boost mortgage lending, a possible BI rate cut somewhere in 2016, while many - among the young and large population - will buy their first house or apartment in the next couple of years.
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