Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” recently that he’d “buy up a couple hundred thousand” single-family homes if it was practical.

Buffett said that’s because he believes purchasing a home with ultra-low mortgage rates and holding it for the long-term has become a better investment than stocks right now.

“Housing will come back, you can be sure of that,” Buffett wrote in his annual letter to shareholders recently.

Buffett forecasts an increase in household formations, as more people who moved in with their parents or family members during the recession look to move out and get their own home soon.

“People may postpone hitching up during uncertain times, but eventually hormones take over. And while ‘doubling-up” may be the initial reaction of some during a recession, living with in-laws can quickly lose its allure,” Buffett said.

Buffett said the recovery in the housing market could vary quite a bit among local housing markets, however. He did not provide a timeline of when he expected a full housing recovery, admitting that his prediction last year that a housing recovery will take shape within the year turned out to be “dead wrong.”

Some real estate investors in the Phoenix Real Estate market are purchasing as many single family homes as they possibly can. The market here is extremely competitive now and we are seeing multiple offers on homes. The time to buy was when no one else wanted to purchase real estate in Phoenix. According to the Case Shiller market index, Arizona was one of the two markets that saw prices increases in February. The time to buy was a year ago but there is still time, but its just more difficult with increased competition.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!