Eli Broad, Los Angeles philanthropist and founder of KB Home, said the growing number of vacant U.S. homes, mortgage-related losses at banks and declining consumer confidence have convinced him investors are “better off in cash” right now.

“It will take a long time for the economy to turn around,” Broad said today in an interview on Bloomberg TV.

Financial firms have taken $400 billion in mortgage losses and writedowns, making home loans harder to get for potential buyers and sending sales of new homes down 63 percent from their peak in July 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Broad, 75, called for Congress to pass a housing stimulus bill that would provide a tax incentive for first-time home buyers and guarantee up to $300 billion in refinanced mortgages. The number of home loans written this year will fall 18 percent from last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington.

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