Berkshire Hathaway is doubling down on U.S. homebuilders, even as the housing market struggles to find its footing.
Since Greg Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as CEO on Jan. 1, Berkshire has made three major moves in homebuilding. In late May, it agreed to acquire Taylor Morrison, the nation’s sixth-largest homebuilder, in a cash deal worth $6.8 billion in equity and about $8.5 billion including debt. The deal closed in July. In early July, Mungo Homes, part of Berkshire’s Clayton Properties Group, acquired South Carolina builder McGuinn Homes.
And in the third quarter, Berkshire nearly doubled its position in Lennar, America’s second-largest homebuilder. It increased its holdings by 94%, according to calculations by housing research firm ResiClub, on top of a stake that had already grown nearly 30% in the second quarter. Berkshire now owns roughly 11% of Lennar, according to SEC filings.
Abel told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Sept. 2 that the Taylor Morrison deal reflected a long-term view of the U.S. housing market. “When we looked at housing and housing specifically in North America, we were taking a very long-term view, that American dream will continue to exist,” he said, according to a CNBC transcript. “And five years and 10 years from now, this will be a very strong asset for Berkshire.”
A ‘bumpy road’ for Lennar
In the short term, the bets look more precarious. Lennar’s shares ended the third quarter 49.7% below their October 2024 high, according to ResiClub. Since the end of 2019, the stock is up just 44.2%. That trails the S&P 500’s 138.6% gain and rivals D.R. Horton, PulteGroup, and Toll Brothers, each up more than 150% over the same period.
To keep sales moving, Lennar has been the most aggressive builder of this cycle in cutting net effective prices. Its average sales price is down 24.2% from its 2022 peak. ResiClub estimates that incentives and price cuts account for about two-thirds of that decline, with a shift toward smaller, lower-priced homes making up the rest.
That strategy has squeezed profits. Lennar’s 15.8% gross margin in its fiscal third quarter, which ended Aug. 31, was its weakest third quarter since 2009, per ResiClub. Net earnings fell to $284 million from $591 million a year earlier, the company reported.
Many homebuilders face the same reality in the post-pandemic market. Demand has cooled since the pandemic housing boom ended in mid-2022, and affordability remains stretched. Mortgage rates have also moved in the wrong direction. The average 30-year fixed rate climbed above 7% in late September for the first time since January 2025 and reached 7.28% as of Oct. 1, according to Freddie Mac data.
Abel isn’t pretending otherwise. “We did see it from Berkshire’s perspective that it was going to be a bumpy road for a while,” he told CNBC. “We don’t envision a quick recovery there, but we do see it as an industry that we definitely want to be invested in, and we’re invested in for the long term.”
Looking past the slump
When the market will turn in homebuilders’ favor is anyone’s guess. On Lennar’s latest earnings call, CEO Stuart Miller said that “if anything, [housing has] gotten more difficult since we last spoke in June,” ResiClub reported. Lennar’s heavy exposure to entry-level homes in the Sun Belt was once a winning bet on where Americans were moving. Since the boom ended, that segment has been one of the market’s weakest, and it’s unclear whether the region’s pull on new homeowners will return.
Wall Street isn’t sold yet. The consensus analyst rating on Lennar is underweight, according to ResiClub, and several major quant funds cut their positions in the same quarter that Berkshire was buying.
Still, Berkshire’s footprint keeps growing. With Taylor Morrison now combined with Clayton Properties, Berkshire is America’s fourth-largest site-built homebuilder, according to ResiClub, behind only D.R. Horton, Lennar, and PulteGroup. The numbers may argue for steering clear of homebuilders right now. But as Abel has made clear, Berkshire is looking well beyond right now.
Berkshire and Abel’s office did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
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