A surging stock market powered U.S. household wealth to a record high of more than $154 trillion in the second quarter, aided by a rebound in property values, Federal Reserve data out on Friday showed.
Household net worth rose 3.7% to $154.28 trillion in the period from April through June from $148.79 trillion at the end of the first quarter, the Fed said in its quarterly snapshot of the balance sheets of households, businesses and federal, state and local governments.
The data showed households have fully recouped the wealth losses generated by a crushing bear market for stocks and weaker real estate values through much of last year as the Fed kicked off an aggressive campaign to rein inflation through large, rapid-fire interest rate increases.
The Standard & Poor's 500 total return index , including reinvested dividends, delivered an 8.7% return in the second quarter, its largest gain since the final three months of 2021. The equity market's rally added $2.6 trillion to household net worth, accounting for nearly half of the overall wealth gain in the quarter.
Real estate was the other large driver, with property values rising for first time since the second quarter of 2022, contributing $2.5 trillion to the increase in net worth.
Household wealth at the end of June exceeded the previous record high of $152.49 trillion set in the first quarter of 2022 by about $1.8 trillion, or 1.2%.
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