BI policy not a problem for developer
BI policy not a problem for developer
JAKARTA (JP): Executives of PT Primagraha Majumakmur, the developer of Casabella Court, said a warning issued recently by Bank Indonesia Governor J. Soedradjad Djiwandono, to reduce loan approvals for the real estate sector will not affect the construction of their project.
They said the Casabella Court condominiums, located in the Sudirman Central Business District, is offering luxury apartments for those who can pay the US$2,500 per square-meter.
"Our project is not a mass production. We are constructing 178 apartments only, including six penthouse apartments," Budiman Effendi, a member of PT Primagraha Majumakmur's board of directors, told a press conference yesterday.
He said these facts will not affect the construction or marketing of the US$57 million project, of which half are loans from local banks.
Budiman said that up until now, 30 percent of the 178 apartments have been sold with most of the buyers intending to live there. Prices range from $318,000 to $447,000 each.
"There is a possibility that most will stay here from Monday to Friday and spend the weekend in their houses outside the city," Budiman said, adding that construction is expected to be completed in December 1996.
Casabella Court condominiums will be the first residential complex built in the Sudirman Central Business District and will be dedicated on Jan.15.
The Central Bank governor warned recently that this year banks should be wary of the growing demand for loans in the real estate sector, which has expanded at an unchecked pace.
A recent report stated that loans for the property business reached Rp 28.2 trillion ($12.8 billion) as of October last year, which accounted for 15 percent of the country's total loans. Around 70 percent of the property loans were for the development of apartments and middle-class houses.
Another executive of PT Primagraha Majumakmur Mimy C. Ratulangi said the warning will not affect all housing developers because banks have to analyze several factors before providing loans for a project.
Christianto Wibisono, director of the Indonesian Business Data Center, recently observed that expansion of credit for upper- class housing is a bit risky in the long run because the market is very artificial. People buying luxury houses and apartments are mostly driven by speculation motives, not by primary demand, he noted.(yns)