Capital & Counties shares fall after London property holding marked down

LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in British property developer Capital & Counties fell 5 percent and led losses among UK housebuilders on Tuesday after it wrote down the value of one of its prime holdings in London by more than 14 percent.

The company said the valuation cut at its Earls Court holdings reflected valuers' assessments of weaker sentiment in the central London residential market following last month's vote to leave the European Union.

Morgan Stanley (Xetra: 885836 - news) analysts said that in the near- to medium-term, the outlook for the company remained challenged owing to rising supply and falling demand for new high-end apartments in London.

Capital & Counties said in a statement it was too early to make firm predictions following the result of the EU referendum but argued that the firm's low leverage and modest capital commitments put in a strong position to withstand macroeconomic uncertainty.

Shares of other UK homebuilders were on the back foot on Tuesday with London-focused Berkeley Group down 2 percent. Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW.L - news) , which is scheduled to report half-year results on Wednesday, was off 1.7 percent. Real estate (OTC BB: REACD - news) agent Foxtons Group (LSE: FOXT.L - news) slipped 2.8 percent. (Reporting by Vikram Subhedar; Editing by Andrew Heavens)