Retno Anjani, a 39-year-old from Bekasi, West Java, was in awe after watching a simulation of how an advanced air filtration technology, called an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), works during a recent event. She was amazed by how the technology could absorb excessive carbon dioxide from the air and transform it into gusts of fresh oxygen.

The technology was introduced as one of the appliances installed in smart homes, a colloquial term for houses equipped with high technology. The appliances can control many aspects of the house, from maintaining air quality to monitoring security. Some of the technologies can even be managed using a smartphone.

“I want a smart home due to its convenience,” said Retno, who visited the launch of a smart home project in Cikarang, West Java, on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Frederika, a 37-year-old resident of Cikarang, also expressed her interest in smart homes but was concerned that she could not afford such a house, as they could cost around Rp 2 billion (US$140,090).

The smart home concept has become a recent trend in Greater Jakarta as property developers are eager to lure customers amid a sluggish property market. The concept is deemed suitable for urban residents as they seek a more convenient and improved quality way of living amid the hustle and bustle of the capital.

The developers are upbeat the concept can revive residential property sales in the country. Bank Indonesia’s property survey in the fourth quarter of 2019 showed Indonesia's residential property sales had dropped 16.33 percent compared with the previous quarter.

One developer taking a shot at the concept is PT Panahome Deltamas Indonesia, a joint venture company established by Japan-based Panasonic Homes and Living and property giant Sinarmas Land. The joint venture has been developing a smart home cluster at Kota Delta Mas, Cikarang, called Savasa Smart Lifestyle since 2018.

Wulang Nur Widyatmoko, the general manager of Savasa, said the idea of constructing the cluster came after the company saw a potential demand from Greater Jakarta residents and expatriates working in manufacturing facilities in Cikarang who sought a more healthy and secured environment in the area. The developer decided to build a housing cluster focused on providing a green living experience, but enhanced it with numerous smart home technologies.

The technologies included ERV and surveillance cameras as well as door and window sensors that can be directly controlled via smartphone.

He added that the idea of the smart home was not just about the technologies, but also architectural design and building materials, which can maximize the function of those technologies.

“Our effort has been a success. We initially put 176 houses on the market in 2018, and so far we have sold 90 of them, or almost 50 percent,” Wulang said.

Another developer, PT Modernland Realty, is also interested in developing more smart homes after selling almost all of its 239 smart houses in Shinano Cluster in Jakarta Garden City (JGC) housing complex, Cakung, East Jakarta, during its launch in 2017.

Gunawan Setyo Hadi, the company’s spokesman, said embedding smart home technologies in houses was important since many Jakartans needed a simple and convenient way of living after dealing with excess work during office hours. The technology offered in their smart houses includes a monitoring system for security, fire and damage that can be accessed via smartphone.

However, he was still unsure whether a similar concept would be applied to the other four clusters in the housing complex. “Installing smart home systems is very expensive. Therefore, the price of the houses will increase if the system is going to be applied to all of our available houses in JGC,” Gunawan said.

Despite the optimism from developers, Anton Sitorus, the head of research and consultancy at a real estate service provider company Savills Indonesia, said there had not been any significant demand spikes for smart homes in Greater Jakarta according to his company’s observation.

He said that the more pressing issue was providing housing for residents. The housing backlog in Jakarta stands at 302,319 homes.

“Thus, I consider smart homes as one of their [the developers] marketing gimmicks. It’s only a way to attract niche customers,” Anton said. (glh)

Popular

Indonesia rolls out one-day remote work in push for energy efficiency

At the mercy of the market

China confirms three ships passed through Strait of Hormuz