Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in homebuilder Lennar to 11.2%, though the pace of new purchases has slowed considerably compared to previous weeks. In a separate development, Warren Buffett has reclaimed a spot in the top 10 wealthiest individuals globally, according to Forbes.
Despite Berkshire’s continued investment, the housing market faces headwinds from rising mortgage rates and prices, impacting buyer demand.
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Berkshire buys more Lennar shares, but pace of purchases slows
Berkshire Hathaway has increased its investment in Lennar, raising its stake in the homebuilder to 11.2%. However, the speed at which the company is acquiring these shares appears to be decelerating.
According to an SEC filing late Wednesday, Berkshire disclosed purchases totaling $53.6 million of Lennar's Class A shares and an additional $329,000 of its Class B shares on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This brings Berkshire's total holding to 26.6 million shares, valued at $2.1 billion based on Friday's closing prices.
At the close of the second quarter, Berkshire held a 5.4% stake, comprising 13.4 million shares valued at $1.2 billion. This marked a nearly 30% increase from its 10.3 million shares at the end of the first quarter, which itself was a 43% rise from the 7.2 million shares held at the year's start.
As the stock price declined throughout the third quarter, Berkshire continued its secret purchases until its stake surpassed 10% in mid-September. This threshold triggered an SEC requirement for disclosure of subsequent transactions within two business days.
In the week preceding this report, two filings revealed that Berkshire acquired nearly $349 million of Lennar shares across six of the seven trading days between September 17 and September 25. This represented an average daily purchase of approximately $58 million.
This week, the average daily purchase has dropped significantly to just under $18 million through Wednesday. With no further filings by Friday night, it suggests Berkshire made no purchases on Thursday, bringing the four-day average down to $13.5 million. Any Friday activity will be noted in Monday's filings.
While Berkshire is positioning itself for a long-term recovery in the housing market, Morgan Stanley has a more cautious outlook for Lennar's immediate future. The firm initiated coverage with an "underweight" rating and a $65 price target, representing a potential 19% decrease from Friday's closing price of $79.81.
The broader housing market faces challenges, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reaching 7.30%, the highest since late 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This, coupled with rising home prices, has deterred potential buyers, as reported by CNBC's Diana Olick.
Buffett Climbs Back into the Top Ten Billionaires
Warren Buffett has regained the 10th position on Forbes' real-time list of the world's wealthiest billionaires. He surpassed Amancio Ortega on Thursday, following a month-long decline in the shares of Inditex, the Spanish retail giant founded by Ortega and known for its Zara brand.
As of Friday evening, Forbes estimates Buffett's net worth at $143 billion, exceeding Ortega's $140 billion.
Buffett is the sole non-tech magnate among the world's ten richest individuals. While Forbes and Bloomberg rankings show slight variations in net worth and order, both consistently place Buffett in the top tier. Bloomberg's index lists Jim Walton of Walmart as the 11th wealthiest person with $134 billion, while Ortega is ranked 15th with $125 billion.
BUFFETT & BERKSHIRE AROUND THE INTERNET
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- Bloomberg (subscription): Ackman Plans to Raise Outside Capital in Push to Emulate Buffett
HIGHLIGHTS FROM CNBC'S BUFFETT ARCHIVE
Buffett teaches his kids a lesson with a slot machine (2007)
In a 2007 interview, Warren Buffett shared an anecdote about how he taught his children about the perils of gambling by placing a slot machine on their third floor, jokingly noting his terrible payout ratio as a father.
WARREN BUFFETT: The human propensity to gamble is huge.
Now, when it was legalized only in — pretty much in Nevada — you had to go to some distance, or break some laws, to do any serious gambling.
But as the states learned to — you know, what a great source of revenue it was, they gradually made it easier and easier and easier for people to gamble.
And, believe me, the easier it's made, the more people will gamble.
I mean, when I was — my children are here, and 40 years ago, I bought a slot machine and I put it up on our third floor.
And I could give me kids any allowance they wanted as long as it was in dimes. I mean, I had it all back by nightfall. (Laughter)
I thought — I thought it would be a good lesson for them.
Now they weren't going to Las Vegas to do it, but believe me when it was on the third floor, they could find it, you know.
And my payout ratio was terrible, too, but that's the kind of father I was. (Laughter)
The — but gambling, you know, people are always going to want to do it.
And for that reason, I particularly think that access — you know, in terms of friendly gambling or anything like that, I'm not a prude about it.
But I do think that to quite an extent, gambling is a tax on ignorance.
I mean, if you want to tax the ignorant, people who will do things with the odds against them, you know, you just put it in and guys like me don't have to pay taxes.
I really don't — I find that — I find it kind of socially revolting when a government preys on the weaknesses of its citizenry rather than acts to serve them. And, believe me, when a government — (Applause)
When a government makes it easy for people to take their Social Security checks and start pulling handles or participating in lotteries or whatever it may be, it's a pretty cynical act.
BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH
Four weeks
Twelve months
BRK.A stock price: $754,790.00
BRK.B stock price: $502.65
BRK.B P/E (TTM): 12.64
Berkshire's cash reserves stood at $365.5 billion as of June 30, a decrease of 8.0% from March 31. Excluding rail cash and subtracting T-bills, the figure is $359.2 billion, down 3.8% from the previous quarter. Berkshire repurchased $4.5 billion of its shares in Q2 2026.
BERKSHIRE'S TOP EQUITY HOLDINGS - Oct. 2, 2026
Berkshire Hathaway's top disclosed equity holdings in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, are based on the latest closing prices as of June 30, 2026, as reported in its 13F filing, with the exception of Mitsubishi, updated as of April 30, 2026. The full list is available via CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
For questions or comments regarding the newsletter, please contact Alex Crippen at alex.crippen@cnbc.com. Warren Buffett's annual shareholder letters are available on the Berkshire Hathaway website.
-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
