Even with easy access to information in this modern era, choosing between purchasing a house and purchasing an apartment in the Greater Jakarta area remains no simple task—especially as younger generations have learned that there is more to life than what lies behind picket fences.
Back in 2024, an Indonesian film titled Home Sweet Loan premiered in local theatres to an enthusiastic response from both the public and the cinephiles. The film’s premise was simple yet relatable in the post-pandemic world: a young office worker has to go through the wringer to realise her dream of owning a house. In this film, a house was illustrated by the protagonist as more than just a place to live. A house, in this case, symbolised a private paradise, serene as well as intimate. Quite a romanticised, old-fashioned definition of a homely life.
But we no longer live in the olden times. And nowadays, in order to fashion the best life possible, we oftentimes have to improvise and revise our perspective. Instead of a house, an apartment can be the private paradise to consider—less romantic, of course, but perhaps more practical as well as realistic. Choosing between a house and an apartment as one’s private residence, therefore, suggests layered cogitations, financially as well as philosophically. In actuality, making that choice is not about where to live; it is about what we value the most.
Is It Always About Money?
One fact that should no longer be denied at this point: there is no such thing as a ‘pocket-friendly‘ home. One’s actual existing budget might not be able to afford either a house or an apartment, which means that the eventual decision might have to come down to how much financial risk the prospective homeowner is willing to take.
According to an article published in February 2026 by Indonesian property site Jendela.com, when it comes to expenditures, owning either a house or an apartment entails its respective pros and cons. The recurring costs of a house tend to be comparatively lower and more flexible, but can spike suddenly. For instance, even though there is no such thing as a ‘maintenance fee’ when it comes to running a house, if the roof tiles leak, the water pump is damaged, or the walls are cracked (and all of these things are bound to happen, trust me), those issues must be addressed immediately and, oftentimes, the repair costs must be paid in cash.
Another element that should never be underestimated is nature, and this is something that I, as someone who lives by myself in a house, have witnessed and learned firsthand and in a very hard way. Termites that eat door frames, roof leaks during heavy rain, or flooding are maintenance costs that homeowners should gear up for come rainy season—and the rainy season in Indonesia can be very brutal. These issues, however, rarely exist in apartment residents’ lives, as the building’s structure-related concerns are usually handled by the apartment’s management.
Transport is also an underrated yet significant element that can break the romantic illusion of having a house. Affordable houses in the Greater Jakarta area are usually located in the suburbs, such as Bekasi, Tangerang, Depok, and Bogor. However, if one’s work dictates a nearly daily commute to and from busy city spots like Central Jakarta or South Jakarta, the costs of petrol, tolls, and vehicle servicing due to the long distance travelled every day can reach Rp2-3 million per month—not to mention the stress that must be endured on the road. In conclusion, not all costs are financial.
Living in an apartment in the Greater Jakarta area, on the other hand, is a far cry from what one watches in sitcoms like Friends and How I Met Your Mother. What prospective apartment owners tend to overlook is the fact that an apartment comes with certain ‘hidden costs’. Case in point: if an apartment resident wishes to renovate their unit, a renovation deposit, which can cost millions of rupiah, must be paid to the apartment management. These ‘hidden costs’ also exist in what may appear as trivial activities. For instance, due to limited drying space and the usual prohibition on drying on balconies to keep the apartment building’s facade neat, apartment residents typically have to rely on laundry service, which costs more than doing their laundry themselves.
Transport-wise, however, now might be the best time to be an apartment resident, especially in the heart of Jakarta. The expansion of the commuter train route (i.e., the commuter train station that has recently been operated at Jakarta International Stadium) and the mass rapid transit have made it possible for Jakartans to commute more affordably as well as expeditiously. Furthermore, with the rising petrol costs and the time, as well as energy, wasted on traffic, more Jakartans have seen owning and commuting in a private vehicle as excessively uneconomical.
Changing Generations, Changing Values
Perhaps what is unique about the debate of owning a house versus owning an apartment, at least here in Jakarta, is the entailing philosophical debate.
Regardless of differences in culture, the majority of Indonesia’s Generation X believed that having a house was a testament to success, pride, and happiness. The so-called ‘Indonesian Dream’. Raising a family, they believed, could only be done in a two-storied house with picket fences, complete with a garage, a backyard with flowers and a swing, and, if possible, a tiny swimming pool or a basketball hoop. Such conviction, deliberately or not, was later instilled by Generation X into their children—the Millennials—without considering that the reality faced by the future generation might not necessarily be the same as the one back in the 1980s.
Meanwhile, a large proportion of Indonesia’s Generation X viewed apartments as merely temporary housing, considering permanent residence there as a sign of poverty and personal failure. Additionally, the frequent criminal cases in apartment complexes during the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s further tarnished their reputation. Consequently, my parents’ generation still perceives apartments as unsafe places associated with crime and scandal. In the best-case scenario, apartment units are only seen as worthwhile for an investment.
Times have changed, however—and so do the values held by the Millennials and the following Generation Z. Many apartment managements in the city have improved their security and monitoring systems over the years, especially as poor headline news could easily lead to investigation or worse, bankruptcy. Moreover, the younger generations have developed their respective definition of what a good life should look and feel like for them. They have also become knowledgeable and wise enough to later realise that the previous generation’s view of success, pride, and happiness was not exactly a perfect ‘Indonesian Dream’.
My personal experience confirmed this as well. Even though my parents could afford to give my brothers and me that conventional, Indonesian-style home, most of our holidays during our childhood and adolescence were spent, quite literally, inside the house—because running a house was already so costly that our parents had to tighten up their purse strings for everything else. Local shopping malls were our theme parks, and old, rented VCDs were our cinema. I was 14 when I watched my first concert, and my parents had to stand by outside, in the parking lot, because they could only afford one ticket.
Cut to the present era, and many modern-era urbanites have ditched their parents’ view of a homely life in exchange for different things: an opportunity (and resource) to watch concerts, travel, play padel, hang out at trendy coffeeshops, meet new people, and see the world. Some of them would not even mind being in their 30s or early 40s but still live in a boarding house (indekos), as cheaper living costs mean more additional resources to enjoy everything else. Even introverts have grown accustomed to leaving their bedrooms and enjoying their me-time at public spaces, thanks to recent technological advances like Netflix on mobile phones and noise-cancelling headsets. It no longer matters where they live, as they have learned that what makes them happy, ultimately, is outside the picket fences.