American households lost $1.33 trillion of their wealth in the first three months of the year as the recession took a bite out of stock portfolios and dragged down home prices. The Federal Reserve reported today household net worth fell to $50.38 trillion in the January-March quarter, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2004. The first-quarter figure marked a decline of 2.6%, or $1.33 trillion, from the final quarter of 2008. Net worth represents total assets such as homes and checking accounts, minus liabilities like mortgages and credit card debt. The damage to wealth in the first quarter came from the sinking stock market. The value of Americans’ stock holdings dropped 5.8% from the final quarter of last year. Another hit came from falling house prices. The value of household real-estate holdings fell 2.4%. Collectively, homeowners had 41.4% equity in their homes in the first quarter. That was down from 42.9% in the fourth quarter.
Americans’ net worth shrinks $1.33 trillion in 1Q
Sign up for the free Daily Report email – local news about the people, companies and issues that impact business impact business in Baton Rouge and beyond.
