The wife of tech billionaire Forrest Li is set to acquire a mansion in one of Singapore’s most coveted residential areas, even as the luxury property market remains in a lull.

Ma Liqian filed an option in April to buy a so-called good class bungalow on Gallop Road for S$42.5 million (US$31 million or RM147.1 million), according to documents seen by Bloomberg News. The house sits on a 1,552 sq m (16,706 sq ft) plot of land.

Li owns a 1,403 sq m land parcel next to the mansion, near the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a World Heritage Site. That was acquired in 2019, property records show.

A Sea spokesperson declined to comment. 

While nearly 80% of Singaporeans live in government-subsidised apartments, the upper echelons vie for good class bungalows, which are valued for their rarity and size. The sector has cooled down after the city-state’s biggest money laundering scandal and high interest rates weighed on the market. 

The sale, by a family surnamed Ku, adds to a handful of transactions recently. This includes a S$36 million sale at Cornwall Gardens and a separate mansion at Ford Avenue being bought for S$39.5 million by a scion of the Wee family, Singapore’s richest banking dynasty.

China-born Li’s fortune is primarily derived from his stake in Sea Ltd, Southeast Asia’s largest internet company. His wealth took a dive during a recent tech downturn, but recovered slightly after his company recorded its first full-year profit since listing. 

Once Singapore’s richest person, Li now has a net worth of US$3.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

  - Bloomberg