Bali Studies

Sanur leads the way in Bali

by Adrian Batten

http://www.property-report.com/aprarchives.php?id=662&date=050807

What is the most expensive piece of real estate in Bali? The answer may surprise. It’s Sanur. Despite all the promotional hoopla for villa developments in Seminyak and Canggu, and even swankier ones on the cliffs of Bukit and Jimbaran, Sanur is and will remain, for the foreseeable future, the bluest of blue-chip Bali.

Known affectionately, or dismissively according to taste, as ‘Snoring-on-Sea’, the sobriquet is understandable if mistaken. A better analogy might be Belgravia-by-the -Sea, or just think of Santa Barbara in California.

“Not many people are aware of it, but every year 40 to 50 expat families from Kalimantan and elsewhere in Indonesia buy or build villas in Sanur,” says Roger Kalhoefer, a principal of BaliPropertyInfo.com. “They come because Sanur is a pleasant place to live and because it has three of Bali’s top schools, including Bali International School (BIS), the only institution in Bali offering the International Baccalaureate.”

“Sanur is known as a bit sleepy, and we hope it remains so,” adds British businessman Ian Spence , who has had a house for over 30 years in the renowned Batujimbar Estate gated community and who was heavily involved in the establishment and growth of BIS.

Evidence that Sanur is quietly absorbing the influx and reinventing itself is seen everywhere you look. Several major clearings of large beach properties from six to 20 hectares have been made toward the western end of Sanur’s beach, all but one scheduled for villa development. Informed sources say the Bali Hyatt in Sanur, the island’s first truly luxury resort, will be completely re-developed, with the long-empty property across the road to become an exclusive, upmarket estate.

Today, new fashion shops in Jalan Tamblingan add a more stylish look to the main shopping street, while pleasant high-quality, low-key restaurants and cafés have sprung up. Everywhere you look, whole neighbourhoods have taken on a solid and prosperous look as new villas are completed by independent owners.

Community appeal
The appeal isn’t just to foreigners. Wealthy Jakartans have long wanted a piece of Sanur, too, yet other than schooling, what’s the appeal? Unlike so much of southern central Bali today, Sanur is quiet, traditionally accepting of foreigners, has a sense of community, is well run and plans to stay that way.

The restored beach, a broad swathe of white sand, is safely protected from the surf by a reef and is readily accessible. Sanur has proper infrastructure. Getting around is easy, walking a pleasure and cycling’s not the life-threatening exercise it can be elsewhere. It has proper pavements, so you won’t break a leg falling into a nullah or electrocute yourself on a tangle of naked cables.

Above all, Sanur is a known quantity. What you see is what you get. In Kerobokan, Canggu and other ‘hot’ areas, traffic is already a problem and in two years current views of the rice fields could change to those of a modern concrete village, or at best another villa development. Observes Kalhoefer: “In Canggu typically, you have no easy beach access, no direct highway from the airport, no good restaurants within a 10-minute drive and your only view is the construction of other villas.”

Price ranges
Land prices in Sanur range from about US$10,000 per are (100sqm) across the bypass to double that as you near the beach. A property in Batujimbar, when they come on to the market, is expected to set you back about US$1.1 million for a four-bedroom villa, set in half an acre of mature garden several properties in from the beach. Beachfront properties in Batujimbar almost never come onto the open market.

“The proximity to specific views, like ocean surf, or the sacred River Ayung, adds a multiple of two or three times to the typical price of land that doesn’t have views, but the biggest multiple in Sanur, roughly four times, comes from being inside the security perimeter of the Batujimbar Estate,” says Kalhoefer.

Sanur’s attractions are summed up by 39-year-old Denise Baron, a business owner and author from Philadelphia, who has been coming to Bali regularly since 1991 and recently bought a property.

“I’ve fallen in love with Sanur and the surrounding area,” she says. “It provides me with the lifestyle I have back home, with a sense of community and great places to dine, socialise and shop. I feel safe swimming in the ocean with my family and I enjoy beachside strolls. The combination of cultural events, customs and friendly people make it a wonderful place to live.”

In time the new residential estates being built on Bukit may come to be the investment of choice, eclipsing Batujimbar. As for the social or ‘happening’ scene, Sanur’s already done that far more stylishly decades ago. Sanur is a benign and mature seaside village, redolent of wealth and serenity, with a history and a culture to match. It doesn’t take much imagination to see Jalan Tamblingan becoming the Bali version of Rodeo Drive. In the view of some of Southeast Asia’s most wealthy men who have homes there, if you can afford the ante, Sanur will long be one of Bali’s safest and surest investments.

posted by andersonite @ 8:26 PM