House prices increase 15%

JAKARTA (JP): The price of homes in the city is likely to increase an average of 15 percent following the fuel price hike, a developer has said.

Director of PT Metropolitan Development Nandya Widya said on Saturday that the hike in house prices was inevitable as the cost of building materials and construction were also likely to rise.

She said increased prices should be in accordance with the improvement of people's purchasing power.

Unfortunately, their purchasing power does not seem to have improved, which will result in a fall in the sale of homes, she said.

Nandya said to sell homes, "value engineering" would be made one of the factors in reducing the cost of building materials.

"But the strategy should also be based on the current building standard," she said.

A building will have less detail to reduce the use of cement and the use of roof tiles and logs will also be reduced.

Vice president of PT Metropolitan Land Hermansyah said that sales of homes this year had increased 30 percent compared to sales in the first half of last year.

Although an increase in prices might affect sales, he said business prospects were bright as people bought homes not for investment, but out of necessity. This is encouraging the development of housing estates, he said.