I did notice quite a bit of construction still going on around me. At least some people have some work.
Construction of new villas in Bali is defying the steep economic downturn that the coronavirus pandemic has caused for the tourist hotspot.
With around 60% of its gross domestic product derived from tourism, Bali's economy has been the hardest hit in Indonesia by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country's central bank reported negative growth of just under 11% for the province in September while the Ministry of Labor reports at least 80,000 tourism workers lost their jobs.
The effect on the island's all-important accommodation sector has been devastating. Only 3% of Bali's 130,000 hotel rooms are occupied while rental rates for the island's 4,000 villas have been slashed by as much as 85%. The property market has hit a wall. "You can't sell anything at the moment," a prominent real estate agent told Nikkei Asia on condition of anonymity.
However, the building of new villas -- mainly for people from Australia, Europe and the U.S. -- appears to defy this calculus. Construction activity is most pronounced in the surf mecca of Canggu, where a property boom saw land values increase 40 to 50 times in the last 10 years. Some of these projects were started or conceived before the pandemic. But many are new projects commissioned by foreign investors.
"We are receiving more inquiries from expats living in Indonesia than ever before -- people who out of the blue decided to invest. It has really surprised me," says Baptiste Dufau of Bali Sandstone Consulting.
Manuele Mossoni, director of architectural company 2M Design Lab, says his "business has increased 20% to 30% compared to last year." Terje Nilsen, director of Seven Stones Indonesia, a property consultant that caters to foreign investors, also reports an uptick in trade, stressing "This is our best business year in 15 years in Bali."
Chief among market forces driving the phenomenon is investor confidence that Bali, which attracted 16 million visitors in 2019, is going to be more popular when COVID vaccines become available and travel resumes.
Investors expect island tourism will be more popular when travel resumes
asia.nikkei.com