SINGAPORE – The wife of convicted Hin Leong Trading founder Lim Oon Kuin has quietly put her Good Class Bungalow (GCB) in Queen Astrid Park up for sale for $100 million.

The 999-year-old leasehold property was put on the market just days after Lim family agreed to pay US$3.5 billion (S$4.6 billion) to liquidators of the now defunct oil trading company.

The $100 million asking price equates to approximately $3,366 per square foot (psf) on a 29,709 square foot lot.

Documents show that Lim’s wife, Madam Tan Sook Eng, is listed as the sole owner of the GCB. She purchased the property in 2017 for $46 million, which works out to $1,548 psf.

Since October, at least two agents have been marketing Madam Tan’s luxury GCB, which has a built-up area of ​​around 20,000 square feet. The two-story property has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It also has an elevator, a private lap pool, a gym, a landscaped garden as well as a driver’s lounge and a room that can accommodate up to 16 cars.

An agent said the property was built more than 15 years ago, but underwent a $10 million renovation three years ago.

Mr Steve Tay, Executive Director of Steve Tay Real Estate, said $1,548 psf was a record high for land values ​​in the Queen Astrid Park GCB area in 2017.

“But land values ​​have increased since then. Today, the value of GCB land in the Bukit Timah and off-Holland Road areas is between $2,100 and $2,500 per square foot, depending on land attributes and location,” he said.

“If you add $800 to $1,000 per square foot more in construction costs, the total investment cost for a newly rebuilt house in the GCB area of ​​Queen Astrid Park will be at least $3,100 to $3,300 per square foot.”

The most recent transaction in this area was an $86 million purchase of GCB in Queen Astrid Park by TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi in 2021. The price works out to approximately $2,704 per square foot on a plot of land of just over 31,800 square feet.

List Sotheby’s International Realty’s analysis of Realis data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed there were 17 transactions in GCB areas worth $470.3 million between January and September 24, 2024.

In 2023, there were 18 such transactions totaling $432.5 million, compared to 44 bungalow transactions totaling $1.19 billion in 2022.

“We observed that some bungalows were purchased by the second generation of local tycoons as well as new Singapore citizens over the past few months. These people will not be subject to additional stamp duty, as they are purchasing their first house for their own occupation,” said Han Huan Mei, research director of the real estate agency.

Since the collapse of Hin Leong, the Lim family has sold three GCBs located at 1K Tanglin Hill, 5 Second Avenue and 20 Third Avenue, which are among several Singapore properties subject to a freeze of the family’s assets ordered by the High Court to recover $3.5 billion in debt.