While the asking price for property in the hospitality sector, such as resorts, villas and hotels, has not budged since the outbreak began at the beginning of March, the owners have been more open to selling their property with up to 25 percent off market price, according to Paradise Property Group, a Bali-based resort and villa realtors firm.

“Bali’s tourism slump has greatly affected both property leases and sales. Annual and monthly lease prices could drop up to 50 percent, while sales of property are also seeing more price concessions during negotiations,” the realtor firm's sales manager, Fransiska Annie, told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview on July 8.

Meanwhile, Fransiska said limited international travel and large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) had also made it difficult for buyers to survey property to understand fair value.

Bali, which relies heavily on tourism, has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, with foreign visits continuing to slow since March. Foreign tourists traveling through the province’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport dipped 64.7 percent in March from the same period last year, which worsened to over 99 percent in the following months until May, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data.

BPS data also showed that hotel occupancy stood at 2.07 percent in May, nearly a 50 point drop from the same period last year, the steepest dive of all provinces in May.

However, despite the pressures from falling occupancy rates, Fransiska also stated that in many cases, Bali property owners had also backed off from negotiations due to buyers’ unreasonable price demands, which could reach 50 percent below market price.

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