"The big guys want to get bigger. They want to get into more markets, more price points, more types of product, and as they're doing that, they're finding the most efficient way is through acquisitions," she said.

There have been a total of 19 homebuilder deals so far this year. Whelan says she alone has four more set to close by year end, and there could be more from others. The average number of deals across the industry over the last five years was 12 per year.

The surge is the result of still-growing housing demand that reignited at the start of the pandemic thanks to record low mortgage rates and sudden new migration. But mortgage rates also caused a historic housing shortage.