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ummarecon Agung, one of the country'€™s leading property players, is confident about its business this year and has revised its marketing sales target from Rp 4 trillion (US$333.9 million) to Rp 4.5 trillion amid flat growth expected by fellow developers.

Many developers expect tightened mortgages following the implementation of Bank Indonesia'€™s loan-to-value (LTV) rule that imposes stricter down-payment requirements on property purchases.

To ward off this situation, the developer would also shift from its traditional middle-upper class market to its middle-class segment.

Summarecon president director Johanes Mardjuki said the company was confident it could pocket higher figures by year-end given the company'€™s success in securing Rp 2 trillion in marketing sales, or half of its initial target, in the first five months of the year.

With the new target, the developer hopes to see its marketing sales rise by 20.64 percent compared to Rp 3.73 trillion it made last year.

Out of the total marketing sales generated as of May, half came from the company'€™s newly developed township of Summarecon Bekasi in West Java, while the remainder was from a similar flagship project '€” Summarecon Serpong '€” in Banten.

'€œThe property business faces several challenges this year, such as a market slowdown during the [legislative and presidential] elections, a higher interest rate and the LTV policy that restrains developers,'€ Johanes said.

A number of developers, including the Ciputra Group and Pakuwon Jati, have set moderate targets or have even lowered their targets this year after the central bank tightened mortgage stipulations and following a slowdown in demand ahead of the elections.

'€œWe, however, are upbeat about generating higher sales, having prepared strategies to respond to the challenges,'€ Johanes said.

The developer is aiming to explore the middle-class segment and avoid the speculative market.

Johanes said to make property purchases more affordable for consumers, Summarecon had reduced the size of its residential products while retaining the price per square-meter in an attempt to boost its sales volume.

'€œWe have applied such a method in Bekasi, and demand was proven to grow stronger there,'€ he said.

He said Summarecon had also extended the installment period to facilitate its customers, but adding that the developer would not relieve its down payment to prevent speculative buyers.

Summarecon aims to expanding its hotel business this year, hoping to also boost its recurring income.

The developer is working on the construction of budget hotel POP! in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta; four-star hotel Harris in Bekasi; and five-star Movenpick Spa and Resort in Bali.

Johanes said the POP! and Harris hotels would contribute to Summarecon'€™s income late this year, while the Bali hotel would commence its commercial operations in late 2015 or early 2016.