(Reuters) – U.S. household wealth jumped to a new high of $141.7 trillion at the end of June, a report from the Federal Reserve showed on Thursday, boosted by stock market gains and a pandemic-induced real-estate boom.
Rising equity markets fueled the increase in overall wealth, adding $3.5 trillion to household assets in the second quarter – a time period in which the S&P 500 saw a total return of just over 8.5%.
Increasing real estate values added around $1.2 trillion, according to the U.S. central bank’s latest quarterly report on household, business and government financial accounts.
Overall U.S. household wealth rose by $5.9 trillion from the first quarter.
The amount held in household savings deposits fell to $10.6 trillion in the second quarter from $10.8 trillion in the first quarter. Balances in checking accounts rose to $3.6 trillion from $3.3 trillion in the first quarter, the report showed.
(Reporting by Jonnelle Marte and Ann Saphir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
