US household wealth tops US$100t for first time

[WASHINGTON] US household wealth topped the US$100 trillion mark for the first time ever in the first quarter of 2018, the US Federal Reserve said on Thursday.

Rising US house prices, a market suffering a long-term shortage, pushed up the net worth of households even as stock markets were roiled by volatility.

The Fed said the net worth of the nation's households and nonprofits rose to US$100.8 trillion in the first three months of the year, up from US$99.7 trillion the previous quarter.

Real estate prices rose by US$500 million from the previous quarter.

Growth in annual household debt slowed to 3.3 per cent between January and March, down from 4.6 per cent at the end of 2017, when parts of the South were battered by hurricanes and many households were forced to borrow to replace damaged cars and repair flooded property.

Consumer credit increased by 4.2 per cent while real estate loans rose only 2.9 per cent.

Federal government debt shot up by 15.3 per cent after Congress raised a statutory limit on borrowing, a rate not seen since 2010 in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

AFP