Buying Houses Difficult for Millennials

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — In Indonesia, housing remains an unresolved problem. Current data shows a backlog of around 11.4 million housing units. Each year, the housing demand increases by around 800,000 units.

On the other hand, Indonesia has enjoyed a demographic bonus since 2015, with the majority of the population within the productive age of 15-64 years old. According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, the productive age population of Indonesia was around 176.8 million in 2017, or around 67 percent of the total population of 261.8 million. Of that number, around 80 million people are of the millennial generation, or people born in 1980-1999.

The increase in the productive age population is relative to the growth of the urban population. According to the World Bank, around 52 percent of Indonesians lived in urban areas in 2014. It estimates that 68 percent of Indonesians will be living in urban areas by 2025.