Dewi, Contributor, Bali
Past visitors to Bali are familiar with the sight and sound of hawkers on the streets who eagerly approach tourists and ask:mister, want to buy sunglasses or fake watches?"" Now many hawkers are sayingmister, want to buy some land?""
This change in sales pitch has resulted from the dramatic increase in foreign demand for property in Bali in the last five years.
Tourists are once again arriving in droves in Bali as indicated by the high arrival figures last month.
Inevitably, a small portion of the six million annual tourists to Indonesia will in the last days of their vacation investigate purchasing a vacation home or investment villa.
Veteran Bali realtor, developer and newspaper columnist Lawrence Bellefontaine, a resident of Bali for the last 10 years, is optimistic about future demand and prices for Bali property.
He cites the fact that five years ago only a handful of foreigners took the risk of buying property in Bali due to the economic crisis in the aftermath of president Soeharto's downfall.
A three-bedroom luxury villa in those days could be had for as little as US$149,000, but now would sell for twice that.
Although prices leveled off for approximately a year following the 2002 and 2005 bombings, they have never fallen and are now beginning to increase rapidly once again.
Bellefontaine says,best future indictor for Bali real estate is the daily hits received on the Bali real estate website www.ptbalirealestate.com.
In January this year, over 37,000 interested buyers and renters from around the world checked out this website. This is a whopping 38 percent increase over January of last year.
Most of the potential clients want a piece of Bali, which has for the past five consecutive years been named the best island in the world by Travel & Leisure magazine.
Any unprejudiced observer would agree with the Balinese phrase ""Bali Bagus"" (Bali is Good).
Many readers may be ready to act on that and buy a second home or retire here.
Bellefontaine warns, however, that due to the fact that there are no licensing requirements for Bali realtors and agents, purchasing property in Bali can be a dangerous minefield of misinformation and misrepresentation.
He recommends potential buyers adopt his philosophy ofnothing and trust no one"" unless they have excellent verifiable references from sophisticated clients.
Directors of major companies such as The Ritz Carlton and General Electric have relied on Bellefontaine's advice in the past and have purchased vacation investment villas in Bali.
There is no long-term risk in buying Bali real estate.
