Hedge funds seeking the hottest trade of 2013 are turning to skyscrapers, shopping malls and hotels after last year’s rebound in residential real-estate drove the industry’s best gains.

Boaz Weinstein, founder of Saba Capital Management, and Tom Kempner of Davidson Kempner Capital Management cited commercial property bonds as their best investment idea last week at the EnTrust Investment Summit in New York, according to a person who attended and asked not to be named because it was a private event.