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obust economic growth of above 6 percent is projected to drive sizable growth in the industrial property sector with the expansion of several estates, especially those near Jakarta, property consultant Colliers International Indonesia said on Thursday.

The areas include Bekasi, Karawang and Bogor in West Java and Serang and Tangerang in Banten, with the main drivers being automotive and its supporting industries.

Colliers research associate director Ferry Salanto said that land sales registered during the first quarter of 2013 totaled 243 hectares, 150 hectares of which was the sale of the newly opened Karawang Jabar

Industrial Estate (KJIE) to a leading automotive company.

Previous media reports said that automaker PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia planned to purchase 150 hectares of Lippo Group's KJIE.

'With this large transaction, this automotive enterprise will become the anchor of this industrial estate. However, this transaction is considered a pre-committed sale because the land is still underdeveloped with no infrastructure,' he said.

Again in Karawang, he said that Kota Bukit Indah (Indotaisei) had made a sales commitment with Astra Honda Motor in the first quarter of this year and had handed over part of the total sales area of 84 hectares.

With more than 72 percent of overall sales during the quarter, automotive and related industries remained the key drivers of industrial land sales, he said.

'The majority of land transactions by automotive and related industries were in either KJIE or Bekasi's Delta Silicon and GIIC [Greenland International Industrial Center],' he went on, adding that other dynamic industries included food and beverages, building materials, chemicals, steel-related products, warehousing and packaging.

In addition, Colliers data shows that two industrial estates located adjacent to each other in Bekasi are currently accelerating land clearance and infrastructure work as part of their expansion plans.

Bekasi Fajar confirmed that it was working on a 50 hectare extension plan, which was expected to be ready in September this year.

Likewise, a neighborhood industrial estate, MM2100, has earmarked about 150 hectares for expansion.

Ferry said that limited land on offer amid high demand remained the biggest impediment to the growth of industrial property. The disparity has led to rising land prices, with an average 10.5 percent price growth in the first quarter of the year compared to the previous three months. Serang posted the highest increase with an average 21.5 percent.

This quarter saw an increase in industrial property prices from an average of US$114.58 per square meter to $139.26, Ferry went on.

In Karawang, land prices increased moderately this quarter by 9.1 percent to $170 per square meter.

Bekasi showed a mere 4.3 percent increase this quarter due to its relatively high price of $215.03 per square meter.

He said prices would continue to increase during the remainder of 2013, up to 22.7 percent on average, due to limited land availability.