Buffett, the world's third-richest person, reiterated his call for increased taxes on the wealthy.
"Through the tax code, there has been class warfare waged, and my class has won," Buffett said. "It's been a rout. You have seen a period where American workers generally have gone no place, and where the really super rich as a group increased their incomes five for one in this rarefied atmosphere."
Berkshire owns a residential real estate broker in addition to units that produce building materials such as Acme bricks, Benjamin Moore paint and Shaw carpets. The housing market and residential construction won't recover until household creation outstrips the supply of homes, Buffett said.
"We had the greatest binge in housing that this country or probably any country has seen," Buffett said. "When you have a huge bubble in the biggest asset that most people have and that bubble pops, and people have borrowed against that asset and everything, you're not going to get over it in a day or a year or a month."