Shreya Murthy

Uh, this investment is grounded in a longterm belief in the strength of America's housing market and its underlying fundamentals, which we see as enduring over time.

Uh,

Berkshire is raising its exposure to a housing market in its fourth year of dismal sales.

High mortgage rates, job market uncertainty, and the rising cost of living have kept many prospective buyers on the sidelines.

Builders have been forced to offer incentives, such as paying part of buyers' mortgage costs just to unload their inventory.

Builder confidence is low.

Single-family home

starts declined 9% in April, the steepest drop since August.

A third of builders said they had cut their prices last month.

Moreover, many Americans now think home ownership is beyond their budget.

More people are renting for longer or putting their savings into the stock market rather than investing in a home.

But analysts think, analysts say the US housing shortage of more than 4 million homes means new homes need to be built.

They expect more buyers will return to the market once mortgage rates, which recently hit a nine month high,

come down and trigger pent-up buyer demand.

Berkshire has agreed to pay a 24% premium to Taylor Morrison's closing stock price of $58.58 on Friday.

And let's see, the price is a good deal for Berkshire because the actual value of the builder's home portfolio bellies its lagging stock price.

That is an incredible bargain, says Tony Avila, chief executive of Builder Advisor Group.

Taylor Morrison's stock shot up 22%.

Mondays- See this quote by Warren Buffett?

This is the first deal for Able.