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BCN-17
US-PERSONAL-INCOME-DEBT
US household wealth tops $100 trillion for first time
WASHINGTON, June 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US household wealth topped the $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 $100.8 trillion in the first three months of the year, up from $99.7
trillion the previous quarter.
Real estate prices rose by $500 million from the previous quarter.
Growth in annual household debt slowed to 3.3 percent between January and
March, down from 4.6 percent 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 percent while real estate loans rose only
2.9 percent.
Federal government debt shot up by 15.3 percent after Congress raised a
statutory limit on borrowing, a rate not seen since 2010 in the wake of the
2008 financial crisis.
BSS/AFP/HR/1007