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ajor developer Ciputra Development has estimated its annual marketing sales will increase around 20 percent over its targeted figure if the government decides to ease the loan-to-value (LTV) regulation, which took a chunk from the developer'€™s pre-sales figures after it was tightened by the central bank in 2013.

Ciputra finance director Tulus Santoso told reporters over the weekend that the his company would welcome a possible revision of the regulation to be carried out by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and Bank Indonesia (BI), saying it was good news amid circulated reports saying the government would adjust property taxes to boost income from the sector.

'€œThis is good news for us and we hope that [the OJK and BI] will proceed with the plan,'€ Tulus said.

'€œThe impact of the LTV regulation has been so profound on our business that we saw our marketing sales plunge in the year after the regulation became effective.'€

Tulus said that if the government loosened the LTV regulation and reverted it to what it was previously '€” making buyers only pay around a 20 percent down payment to apply for a mortgage to finance their property purchases '€” Ciputra might close the year with its marketing sales higher by around 15 to 20 percent than it had initially targeted.

Ciputra has set a target to have its marketing sales up by around 27 percent year-on-year to Rp 10.9 trillion (US$841.9 million) this year.

The OJK and BI are mulling over revising the current LTV policy in an effort to spur higher credit demand.

The LTV policy is currently implemented on both mortgages and automotive loans. It was introduced by the central bank in 2012 with the goal of curbing excessive mortgage and automotive loan growth and to ease property speculation.

The mortgage regulation came into effect in late 2013, requiring buyers to provide at least a 30 percent down payment when purchasing their first house, if it was larger than 70 square meters.

The requirement increases to 40 percent for a mortgage for a second-house purchase and rises to 50 percent for the next purchase.

Ciputra booked Rp 8.6 trillion in marketing sales last year, down from the Rp 8.9 trillion it pocketed in 2013. In 2013, the company fell short in pocketing its initial target of Rp 10 trillion, after a sluggish fourth quarter triggered by the regulation.

Residential sales are the company'€™s financial backbone, with around 69 percent of its Rp 1.74 trillion first-quarter marketing sales coming from sales of landed houses, while apartment sales made around 8 percent of the total figure.

Ciputra Development, according to Tulus, aims at book Rp 8 trillion in revenues and Rp 1.72 trillion in net profits this year, meaning the company aiming to see its top line rising by around 26 percent and to maintain its bottom line at the same level as last year.

Tulus, however, said that challenges would still exist for the company if the government further revised property taxes.

The revisions include the reduction of the price limit for houses and apartments subject to a 5 percent income tax and luxury tax from the more than Rp 10 billion at present to Rp 2 billion, each.

'€œThe revised taxes will not affect us directly, but it will impact the purchasing power of our customers and further lead to lower sales and marketing sales,'€ he said.