House prices fell by 1.98% y-o-y in Q3 2019

Indonesia’s housing market remains sluggish, with the residential prices in the country’s 14 largest cities falling by 1.98% during the year to Q3 2019, from y-o-y declines of 1.83% in Q2 2019, 0.39% in Q1 2019, 1.3% in Q4 2018 and 1.14% in Q3 2018. House prices dropped 0.54% q-o-q during the latest quarter.

Residential property sales rising

Residential property sales rose by 16.2% q-o-q in Q3 2019, following a quarterly decline of 15.9% in Q2 and a growth of 23.8% in Q1, according to Bank Indonesia.  Sales saw double-digit rises from 2013 to 2015.

Rents, rental yields: yields are high in Jakarta at 7.09%

Apartment costs in Jakarta are low, at around $2,595 per sq.m. 

Indonesia: typical city centre apartment buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
  Buying price Rate per month Yield
Jakarta   $311,400   $1,840 7.09%

Recent news: Indonesia’s economy continues to weaken, registering a real GDP growth rate of 5.02% in Q3 2019 from a year earlier, slightly down from a y-o-y expansion of 5.05% in the previous quarter, amidst falling investment, according to Statistics Indonesia. It was actually the slowest pace of growth since Q2 2017. The government is targeting an economic expansion of 5.08% this year and another 5.3% in 2020. Bank Indonesia held its key rate unchanged at 5% in November 2019, following four consecutive rate cuts of a total of 100 basis points since July 2019, in an effort to boost economic growth.

After facing one of the most serious political and religious tensions in Indonesia’s history last year, political conditions have improved dramatically in recent months, with President Widodo’s popularity back to its near record highs. Widodo won a second term in office during the April 2019 elections, beating former general and longtime rival Prabowo Subianto.