Till Death Do Us MarketCan You Really Own a Place to Die?

Ever heard of San Diego Hills in Karawang? Not just your regular basic cemetery. This premium luxury memorial park comes complete with lots of facilities that you can’t even imagine: an amazing lake, bicycle tracks, swimming pool, and even a camping ground. At first glance, it sounds almost absurd. Why would anyone need such luxurious facilities in a place meant for the dead? 

These days, buying and owning a house have become increasingly difficult. But what if I told you that even owning a place to be buried is no longer straightforward? People are spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to reserve burial plots and even sometimes decades before they are needed. Increasingly, the concern right now is no longer just finding a place to live, but also where we will rest when life comes to an end. 

When the Last Land Runs Out

After death, most people face two main options: burial or cremation. Yet for many Indonesians, burial is not merely a preference, but more of a religious and cultural obligation. This means that unlike many other goods, demand for burial space cannot easily disappear simply because land becomes scarce. More than 1,8 million Indonesian die each year. The number itself is not alarming. Death is, after all, one of the few certainties-unevitable things in life. Hence, the most concerning thing is finding enough space to accommodate everyone. 

For instance, in Jakarta, currently out of 80 public cemeteries spread across five regions, only 11 still accept new burials. The remaining 69 cemeteries are full and only rely on using a stacking system, a method allowing multiple burials within a single plot by placing caskets or bodies vertically above one another. Head of the Parks and Forests Department (Distamhut) of DKI Jakarta, Fajar Sauri, estimated that with around 100 burials taking place every day, the remaining available land may only last for 3 to 5 years.

This shortage issue of burial land in Jakarta leads to a new plan from the city administration which is to relocate people who have been living for years near the public cemeteries to make ways for new graves. As an example, if they move 280 families living in the Rawa Bunga and Kebon Nanas Cemeteries in East Jakarta, they can give enough room for around 450 to 1,500 new graves (Hanung, 2025). However, addressing one shortage inevitably highlights the difficult trade-offs raised. One of the residents, Lilik Suharna, expresses the frustration bluntly by saying, “Don’t shoo us away as if we’re stray cats.” Not only that, another activist from Urban Poor Consortium, Gugun Muhammad, also acknowledged the critical concern of Jakarta’s public cemeteries saying, “Building a cemetery for the dead while displacing the living sounds so wrong to me.” But still, evictions happened in Jakarta where throughout 2025, the city cleared at least 133 homes, displaced 338 households, and led to the demolition of 2 small markets. As a result, experts warn that the costs of the cemetery crisis are often borne most heavily by lower-income households.

Nor is Jakarta alone. Hongkong also faces an even harsher version of the same problem. With more than 7.5 million people packed onto a limited landmass, securing a permanent resting place for the deceased sounds impossible (for the poor). Public cemetery plots are typically leased for only 6 years before remains are exhumed by the government and cremated, so that the land space can be reused. And there’s a huge price for people to afford that permanent burial as private plots can cost anywhere from HK$280,000 to HK$1 million, roughly Rp600 million to over Rp2 billion for a single plot which is enough to buy a house in many parts of Indonesia. That reality led the chairman of Hongkong Funeral Business Association, Kwok Hoi Pong, to make an almost unbelievable statement, “Per square foot, it has become more expensive to house the dead than the living,” (Keegan, 2019).

The Price of Plots

Remember about the 2 main options you can get after you die? Well, if you really choose to be buried in a cemetery, you will also have to make another decision. You either wait until you die and leave it to your family to figure out. Or maybe, you can just secure a plot in advance. And the latter is what most people now do. Although grave plots are probably not the usual type of real estate anyone wants to check out, let alone purchase years before they’re needed, perhaps thanatophobia (the fear of death) makes the topic even easier to avoid. But as cemeteries are now becoming overcrowded, many can no longer ignore the issue.

While public cemeteries remain available at little or no cost in Jakarta, many families still choose to secure burial plots years in advance. The reason is often not necessity, but certainty. Some purchase burial pots simply for peace of mind, hoping that they won’t be a burden for the families or the relatives when the time eventually comes. Others buy early to ensure that they can eventually be buried alongside their loved ones, as adjacent plots are often limited and may command a premium over individual ones. As a result, plots have increasingly become something people plan for years ahead rather than only when they are needed. Still, certainty itself has value. As more people purchase plots in advance, burial space begins to resemble something more than a final resting place (Seeto, 2025). 

 In private memorial parks, burial plots are offered in various sizes and price ranges. At Al-Azhar Memorial Garden, for example, a single plot starts at around Rp54 million, while family plots can exceed Rp320 million, excluding headstones and burial services. Such prices rival major household purchases and encourage people to think of burial space as a long-term asset rather than a last-minute expense.

This fixed supply has also given rise to an unusual secondary market. Owners may decide to sell unused plots after relocating, switching to cremation, or simply finding that the space is no longer needed. According to a sales executive at Al-Azhar Memorial Garden, around 20% of buyers purchase plots with the intention of reselling them in the future. As prices reportedly increase by at least 10% annually, what began as a purchase for certainty and peace of mind can gradually become an investment opportunity (Triwijanarko, 2018).

What is striking is that most of these decisions are entirely rational. People purchase burial plots to reduce uncertainty, keep families together, or secure a preferred resting place. So once burial space becomes scarce enough, those same motivations can transform a basic necessity into a tradable asset. A place intended for the dead gradually acquires value for the living.

The Fine Print: You Don’t Own the Dirt

When somebody buys a grave, they usually think that they’re purchasing the land. And nope, they’re not. What they’re really purchasing is an easement on the land for burial rights. In other words, the bodies buried in those cemeteries are like renters with a long-term lease. In most public cemeteries across Indonesia, including Jakarta, Depok, and Surabaya, families do not actually own the land beneath the grave. Instead, they receive a Cemetery Land Use Permit (Izin Penggunaan Tanah Makam or IPTM), which grants the right to use a plot for 3 years. This means that every 3 years, they must renew the permit by paying the local retribution fee. If a family fails to renew the permit after a certain period, the local government has the right to reuse the grave with the stacking system.

On the other hand, private memorial parks appear to offer a different arrangement. Cemeteries such as San Diego Hills and Al-Azhar Memorial Garden provide buyers with a Certificate of Interment Rights (SKM), which grants a perpetual right to use the burial plot. Alongside it comes a perpetual care fund intended to finance maintenance and operations for years to come. The word perpetual sounds reassuring. It suggests permanence. Stability. Perhaps even eternity. 

But nothing really does truly stay forever. Because if somehow a cemetery goes bankrupt, a few things may happen. A local government may decide to step in and take over the management though there’s not much of an incentive for them since an abandoned cemetery is considered a “financial burden”,  left with zero income but ongoing costs. Alternatively, the land could be redeveloped, requiring graves to be relocated elsewhere. While such situations are uncommon, they reveal an uncomfortable reality that is even the last piece of land we hope to call our own may never truly belong to us.

Beyond the Plot

So, if burial plots are defined more by rights rather than ownership, another question remains. Why are some people willing to pay so much for them? Families purchase plots years in advance to avoid uncertainty. Investors enter the market when prices rise. Cemetery operators respond to growing demand. None of these behaviors are particularly irrational. Even so, burial space is not quite like housing, cars, or stocks.

Death is one of the few experiences shared by everyone. So when access to a final resting place increasingly depends on purchasing power, the issue becomes larger than individual choice. It raises questions about how cities allocate land, how governments prepare for predictable demographic pressures, and who bears the cost when planning falls short. The irony is difficult to ignore as some families have now struggled to find space for their dead while others risk losing space for the living.

Perhaps that is why burial plots occupy such a unique place in the market. They are purchased by the living, used by the dead, and valued for reasons that extend far beyond the land itself. After all, everyone dies. But if a dignified burial gradually becomes a privilege rather than something broadly accessible, then the question is no longer just economic. It becomes a question about the kind of society we want to build and whether even our final resting place should be left entirely to the market.

References

Hanung, G. (2025, 4 Desember). Graves over homes: Jakarta’s cemetery crisis pushes out poor residents. Asia News Network. https://asianews.network/graves-over-homes-jakartas-cemetery-crisis-pushes-out-poor-residents/

Keegan, M. (2019, 23 April). Hong Kong real estate now more expensive for the dead than the living. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/23/dead-pricey-hong-kong-burial-plots-now-more-expensive-than-living-space

Probizwriters. (2013, 16 Juli). Cemeteries: The untold economic story [White paper]. Probizwriters, LLC. https://www.probizwriters.com/White-Paper-Economic-Impact-Cemeteries_7-16-13.pdf

Seetoo, J. (2025, 14 Juli). Burial space scarcity turns cemetery plots into high ROI real estate assets. 24/7 Wall St. https://247wallst.com/investing/2025/07/14/burial-space-scarcity-turns-cemetery-plots-into-high-roi-real-estate-assets/

Jangan mati di kota besar: Akses sulit, biaya pun mahal. (n.d.). The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/jangan-mati-di-kota-besar-akses-sulit-biaya-pun-mahal-263447

Triwijanarko, R. (2018, 3 April). Tanah pemakaman jadi salah satu sektor investasi yang cukup menggiurkan. Marketeers. https://www.marketeers.com/tanah-pemakaman-jadi-salah-satu-sektor-investasi-yang-cukup-menggiurkan/