Berkshire Taylor Morrison bet suggests housing market has bottomed

U.S. homebuilders have recently been the target of Japanese buyers. Sumitomo Forestry just closed on a $4.5 billion deal to purchase Tri Pointe Homes. All told, Japanese companies now own 33 homebuilders that operate in the U.S.  

"Many [homebuilder] stocks are valued at or below book value right now because of the short-term outlook for the industry, which is exactly the time that long-term oriented investors can find great bargains," Burns said.

Dream Finders Homes recently tried to acquire Beazer Homes for roughly $704 million, but Beazer's board rejected the bid, saying in a release that it "significantly undervalued" the company.

Berkshire is buying in before the housing market mounts an expected recovery.

Sales of newly built homes were 11.3% lower in April year over year, according to a government reading. Both single-family housing starts and building permits were also lower annually. Homebuilder sentiment has been stuck in negative territory for the past two years, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

"Maybe that means it's going to bounce along the bottom for two years. I doubt it. I think we have pent-up demand," Whelan said, adding that she expects the war with Iran to be over by next spring. "I think we'll be ready for it in '27, so buying six months early is not that much of a stretch for a company like that."