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Home appreciation finally lifting household wealth

March 11, 2013 @ 8:29 am

Federal Reserve research shows that steady home appreciation and surging stocks have finally allowed Americans to recover the $16 trillion in wealth they lost during the Great Recession.

The gains are helping to bolster the U.S. economy and could lead to additional spending and growth.

Most of the recovered wealth has come from higher stock prices that have been flowing mainly to wealthier Americans. By comparison, the middle class derives the bulk of its wealth in the form of home equity, which has risen much less.

According to the Fed, household wealth totaled $66.1 trillion as of December 31 - 98 percent of the pre-recession peak. Further increases in stock and home prices this year mean that Americans' net worth has since topped the pre-recession peak of $67.4 trillion, private economists report.

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Comments (3)


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  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    except the dollar isn't worth what it used to be!
    March 12, 2013 5:31 am
    don't buy this bull for 1 second. Anyone can look around at all the foreclosures and closed business...everyone knows unemployed people or people sucking on the govt's teet.....this article is an illusion. Federal Reserve Research? Those three words sound like a joke. More like Federal Reserve printing money left and right....to devalue the dollar. Research....
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  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    private economist report....
    March 12, 2013 5:32 am
    in other words....Tom Kelly doesn't have a source. Gotta love the media....making stuff up all the time.
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  • Cat50 wrote...
    yeah, right
    March 14, 2013 8:02 am
    My advice is to buy a home because you need shelter, not as a investment. I recovered NOTHING in the sale of my home and what is worse, left with the feeling that I actually ended up paying the buyers to take the unaffordable thing off my back. Looking forward to my Alpo years now and thank you to all the fat cats for ruining the economy.
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