A luxury property in Singapore owned by the founder of collapsed oil firm Hin Leong Trading Pte. failed to reach its guide price at auction, in a fresh sign of cooling demand for high-end homes.
The so-called “good class bungalow” — considered the pinnacle of the city’s residential property — fetched just under $26.5 million, 12% below the $30 million guide price.
Singapore luxury housing deals have cooled in recent months, according to property sales and rental data. High end bungalow sales are on pace for their worst year in a decade, while prices of landed homes dropped 3.6% in the third quarter.
Lim Oon Kuin’s bungalows are among his family assets held under a court-ordered freeze. Lim is currently on criminal trial for charges related to cheating and forgery, after his oil firm owed about US$3.5 billion ($4.69 billion) to banks.
The freehold two-story property was put up for sale via public tender in September. The sale is subject to approval from Singapore’s high court or Hin Leong’s liquidators, according to the tender.
Broker Knight Frank targeted ultra-high net worth clients to secure a buyer for the house sitting on about 15,000 square feet of land, according to an executive director, Mary Sai, in a statement. GCBs are out of reach for all but the wealthiest Singaporeans and valued in part for their rarity.
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This marks Lim’s second GCB sold in the city-state’s prime residential district of Bukit Timah. Buyers in neither sale were disclosed.
