Choosing Bali Property for Sale: Villa VS Land VS Apartment – What’s Better?

Choosing wisely your perfect property for sale in Bali is an easy process if you consider at least 4 factors: availability, prices, infrastructure in the area, and future returns on investment. 

Whether you’re looking for your own family nest or a profitable investment-only apartment, Harcourts Purba Bali explains in this article how to make the right decision buying property in Bali.

#1 Availability

Bali is one of the world’s top leading destinations for tourists, digital nomads, and investors. Yet, Bali is extremely diverse and location can determine the price of any Bali property for sale and investment opportunities, as well as the comfort of living in the area. 

On the other hand, it is also the question of availability that affects pricing a lot. Canggu remains the business and expat center of the island with a booming villa and apartment market, yet there are very few beachfront land plots left, and they are all extremely expensive. Moving more west, you can find cheaper and bigger land parcels, but a very scarce supply of villas and no luxury apartment complexes. 

To help you decide on what type of property you’re looking into depending on its location, Harcourts Bali created a simplified availability table for you:

If you’re looking for an apartment, browse modern apartments for sale in the heart of Canggu. Planning to invest in villas, you have plenty of choices across the island and then your budget and lifestyle will play the most important role.

If you choose to invest in land and build from scratch, the most affordable options will be on the West Coast, while the most yielding ones remain in Canggu, Seminyak, and Ubud.  

#2 Lifestyle and Location

Bali has something to offer for anyone and it is vital to consider your or your guests’ lifestyle while choosing a location for the future property. Of course, all the labels are not strict and the infrastructure is growing extremely fast in Bali, however, we’ve prepared a very simple guide for you with the pros and cons of each of the popular areas offering property for sale in Bali:

• Canggu: 

• • • Great for daily surfing, sunset on the beach, social life, nightlife, digital nomads and freelancers, bars, coffee shops, restaurants, working out. Guesthouses, villas from simple to luxurious, and apartments are widely available. 
    • Cons: crowded, noisy, dense traffic and housing, more expensive than other areas. If you love walking, it will be very difficult to find where to walk, yet, doable. 

• Seminyak

• • • Very similar to Canggu, but less surfing and more walking! Seminyak is today more touristic. 
    • Cons: crowds and traffic jams are seasonal (tourism), and most businesses are oriented toward tourists more than toward expats. Far fewer coworking areas and facilities for long-term residents.

• Kuta and Legian

• • • These areas are the original hotspots for tourism back in time. Today it is still mostly a tourist spot with a huge mall and cinema, a large beach, an abundance of hotels, and few apartments or villas offered.
    • Cons: only for tourists. Gets very crowded during the high season. Young generations prefer Canggu or Seminyak. Local businesses are all oriented toward tourism. Almost no new developments are possible as there is simply no land left and the prices are very high.

• Ubud

• • • Great for a spiritual journey, hassle-free life in the jungle with waterfalls, good for families, remote workers, and yogis. The “eat, pray, love” lifestyle is real here! A lot of facilities for both tourists and residents. Peaceful and beautiful area with amazing hiking and walking trails. Land and villas are both widely available. 

• • • Cons: Quite far from beaches and Canggu or malls. Will not fit someone who loves bars and parties. 

• Sanur and Nusa Dua

• • • Great for families and retirees. Strong community. The area has 5-star hotels, nice walking trails along the ocean, and beaches. Both land and villas are available for sale.
    • Cons: all the “action” is happening somewhere, Sanur is quite far from everything. Most young expats prefer different areas. 

• Uluwatu and Jimbaran

• • • Paradise for surfers! Uluwatu has a strong expat community and provides the residents with everything they need, and stunning cliff views on top of that! Extremely popular area.

• • • Cons: far from Canggu and big shopping centers; cliffs and walking down them are not the best idea for pregnant women and retirees. Even if they do have almost everything, sometimes it still feels a little bit isolated, you will have to be very careful with the exact location of the house.

Among less popular locations – are Amed, Tabanan, and North of Bali. They are amazingly lush, beautiful, and peaceful, and the property prices are very advantageous right now. 

#3 Bali Property Prices

Researching Bali property for sale you will be surprised how much location affects the pricing, however, while it is one of the most important factors when you’re buying land, choosing a location may save you money, when you’re buying a finished villa or even a villa on an early stage of construction, the prices will be quite same across the whole island. 

For your convenience, Harcourts Purba Bali created a simple comparison table of prices on now available properties for sale in Bali. The prices are very sensitive to land infrastructure (road access, poll, garden, etc), view from the property and the square footage, as well as the number of bedrooms. 

*leasehold (rent for 25-30 years with an option to renew)  price per 100 sq m (are)

*freehold (buying for more than 75-80 years with an option to renew and paying for the whole period), price per sq m

As you can see your budget cannot go lower than 200 000 USD on average for a 2-3 bedroom villa in any location in Bali, and of course it is a very simplified understanding and the actual prices will vary between USD 250 000 and USD 350 000 on average if you’re not looking for anything extravagant. 

It looks more appealing to buy a piece of land in Bali and build your dream house. 2-3 ares (200-300 sq m) are enough for a 2-bedroom villa, a small pool, and a small garden. As simple as the design can be, your house with the land for 25 years can cost you less than USD 200 000 while the advantages of building your own place are numerous. 

#4 Bali Property Returns on Investment

Dreaming about moving to paradise is great, and can absolutely become something real. Yet, not everyone is looking to buy property in Bali to live in, real estate on the island is very famous for being a highly profitable source of income. Investors from all over the world (Singapore, China, Australia, and the USA being the top-4) choose Bali property for rental purposes. In this case, it is vital to understand what your returns can be. 

There are no centralized real estate reports on that matter in Indonesia yet, however, it is said that on average an investor can expect an 8% to 30% return on investment per year. As you can see based on the prices comparison table, if one day you decide to sell the property, your profit will be extremely high.

The safety of your investments in Bali is supported by a stable economy that is consistently growing, offering no discounts on land or villas and almost doubling property prices every 2-3 years. 

For investors owning property in Bali, the average rental prices are important to consider to realize – this market can bring money. The average daily rate for apartments and villas in Canggu is promoted at USD 250, while hotels can charge starting from USD 50 per night. You can quickly double-check it using Airbnb.

Ready to make your decision on what Bali property for sale you are looking for? Browse the hand-picked villas, apartments, and land plots for sale. Not sure? Experts at Harcourts Purba Bali are here to give you even more insider tips. Talk to us today and you are one step closer to your own property in paradise.