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Housing stocks are at five-year highs, and one investor is taking out an insurance policy.

optionMONSTER's Depth Charge monitoring system detected the purchase of about 25,000 December 23 puts on the SPDR S&P Homebuilder exchange-traded fund for $0.37 to $0.41. Volume was 38 times previous open interest at the strike.

The XHB rose 1.10 percent to $25.84 on Friday after gaining more than 90 percent in the last year. It's been ripping higher as the worst residential-housing crisis since the Great Depression appears to be drawing to a close. Prices have been stabilizing, orders rebounding, and profit margins widening now that builders have worked through old inventory.

The rally has brought the XHB back to its highest levels since the summer of 2007, but the fund has been trapped around its current level in recent weeks. That could raise concerns about a potential pullback, leading some traders to buy puts for protection.

Overall option volume was almost twice the average amount in the fund, with puts outnumbering calls by 8 to 1.

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