Singapore-based property startup 99 Group, which owns 99.co and rumah123.com, is working with state-owned Bank Mandiri to take the bank’s annual property expo online at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has seen consumers look to digital marketplaces.
99 Group Indonesia’s CEO Chong Ming Hwee said on Wednesday that the Mandiri Festival Properti Indonesia 2020 would feature 131 development projects managed by 39 developers.
“Unlike in previous years, this year’s festival will take place online over the course of a month from Sept. 9 to Oct. 10,” Hwee said during the broadcast of the launch ceremony.
More and more consumers are shifting to online shopping as the coronavirus outbreak forces people to limit their activities outside their homes, prompting businesses to expand their online operations.
Developer Ciputra Group, for instance, reported in late-May that it booked Rp 130 billion (US$8.85 million) in sales for houses marketed via its newly developed online platform from April 18 to 26. The houses have an average price of Rp 250 million and are located in its Citra Maja Raya project in Lebak regency, Banten.
Management consulting company Redseer has projected Indonesia’s online retail gross merchandise value (GMV), which indicates overall sales value, to surpass India’s this year, driven by a rise in e-commerce users amid the pandemic.
Meanwhile, property developer AKR Land Development’s CEO Thomas Go urged the public to purchase properties now as prices were dropping with potential for a rebound in the second half of 2021.
“I think this is the right time to buy property as prices are dropping. Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, I think the price will start to rebound,” he said.
Bank Indonesia’s quarterly Property Prices Index (IHPR) projects a further decline in residential property prices in 2020.
According to the IHPR, growth in residential property prices slowed during this year’s second quarter to 1.59 percent year-on-year (yoy) from 1.68 percent yoy in the previous quarter. The central bank has projected price growth to decline to 1.19 percent during the third quarter.
The combined sales of small, medium and large houses also contracted 25.6 percent yoy in the second quarter, although the contraction was less than the 43.19 percent yoy recorded in the previous quarter.
