U.S. Household Wealth Hit Record $96.9 Trillion Last Quarter

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. household wealth in the third quarter rose to another record, driven by a stock-market surge and rising property values, figures from the Federal Reserve in Washington showed Thursday.

Key Takeaway

The gain in the value of financial assets reflects a 4 percent rise last quarter in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which is hovering near a record high this month. Households also benefited as house prices climbed 6.2 percent in September from a year ago, the most since mid-2014, based on S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city data.

The spike in net worth bodes well for the purchasing power of those Americans who own stocks and homes, which will help underpin household spending, the biggest part of the economy. 

The report also showed companies had an all-time high $2.4 trillion in liquid assets, up from $2.3 trillion in the previous quarter and giving them the means to boost investment.

Other Details

• Mortgage borrowing advanced at a 2.7 percent pace; other forms of consumer credit, including auto and student loans, climbed at a 4.9 percent rate
• Total non-financial debt grew at a 6.2 percent annual pace, the fastest since the fourth quarter of 2015
• Federal government obligations jumped an annualized 10.3 percent, the most since the final three months of 2015
• State and local government debt fell at a 0.1 percent pace, the third quarterly decline, while business borrowing increased at a 5.4 percent rate

--With assistance from Kristy Scheuble

To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle, Randall Woods

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