Hedge funds expect prime London to tank

Three hedge fund managers have bet on the prime London market tanking by shorting Berkeley Group, the Financial Times has reported.

Three hedge fund managers have bet on the prime London market tanking by shorting Berkeley Group, the Financial Times has reported.

Funders Odey Asset Management, BlueMountain Capital Management and Anchorage Capital took short positions against 2.2% of the property developer’s share capital.

There are reportedly fears that Asian and Russian buyers could desert the high-end London market.

Prime London prices increased by 5.2% in 2015, slowing down from 16% growth the year before based on London Central Portfolio data.

Over the same period however transaction levels fell by 23%.

Anthony Codling, an analyst at investment bank Jefferies, told the FT: “They think overseas demand is falling away and there are pockets of oversupply in new-build homes, which will reduce selling prices for Berkeley and bring their share price down."