One of the most
memorable experiences of my early years in the Indonesian stock market was when
I watched how property stocks, which previously devastated by the global crisis
in 2008, gained so much in the next few years, and the rise is in line with the
excellent financial performance of property developers at the time, where they
had great return on equity on the level 20 – 30%, thanks to the high rate of
economic growth in Indonesia (had reached 6.9% in 2011) that boosted the prices
of property as many capital owners invest their funds in the property. At those
years, a property developer could purchase land at a bargain price, develop it
into an elite residential area, and later sell it at exorbitant prices. The
areas on the outskirts of Jakarta such as Serpong, Cikarang, Cibubur, developed
rapidly during this period.
