AREBI to tie up with S'pore realtors

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Association of Real Estate Brokers (AREBI) will cooperate with the Association of Singapore Realtors to help develop each other's marketing skills.

AREBI chairwoman Cynthia G. Sonneville said the cooperation agreement, to be inked Saturday, was aimed at improving the skills of Indonesian brokers.

She said that Indonesian brokers were less competitive than overseas rivals.

"Through this agreement, we'll also exchange information, experiences in legal aspects and other affairs related to real estate companies," she said.

Cynthia said some of its members had complained that developers and property owners often refused to pay commission fees that were tacked onto transactions.

"Developers tend to forget about brokers after particular deals. There have been reports that some developers have not paid commission fees to local brokers," she said.

According to her, property developers always paid the commission fees to foreign-affiliated brokers. She said she did not know why developers and property owners rejected to pay the commission fees to local brokers.

"But we admit that in some cases brokers have not had the proper documentation," she said.

According to Cynthia, as a nonprofit organization, AREBI would help its members settle their disputes with developers. "We'll take legal action if necessary," she said.

AREBI, which was set up five years ago, currently groups 115 real estate firms. The association will hold its second general meeting next week to elect a new chairperson.

At the meeting, to be held at Hotel Ciputra Nov. 22, there will also be a seminar and exhibition.

State Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung is expected to deliver a keynote address at the seminar. Other speakers will be Ciputra, the chairman of the Ciputra and Jaya groups, economist Sjahrir and Jaya Suprana.

"The association still has companies as its members, not individuals, only to make everything easier if there's a case," said Cynthia, who is also president of PT Arkajasa Propertindo.

She said that AREBI had also allied with Realtor, a real estate association of the United States.

"With such a cooperation, AREBI can also control overseas properties marketed in Indonesia. This is, then, also for consumer protection," she said.

She said the ongoing currency crisis, in which the rupiah had lost 35 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar since July, had affected property demand.

"There have been many complaints from our members in the primary market. It's stuck. Sales have dropped significantly. Though there's no official data, we're sure the current property market is very gloomy. Housing loans are high and most developers have not planned to continue their projects."

"Fortunately, the secondary market, which includes shops and houses, is still stable," she said, adding that brokers had an increasing role in the property market.

"Although there's no data, we know that brokers have played a bigger role in selling property," she reiterated.

Unofficial data shows that property deals totaled some Rp 16 trillion in 1996, 5 percent of which went through brokers. (icn)