U.S. Household Wealth Falls for Third Consecutive Quarter

A federal reserve report showed that U.S. household wealth fell by $400 billion in the third quarter as a drop in stock prices outpaced gains in real estate values.  Household net worth declined to $143.3 trillion at the end of September from $143.7 trillion at the end of June.  Stock prices fell as a result of inflation worries and interest rate increases.

Additionally, the pace of home price growth has slowed as a result of the interest-rate sensitive housing sector getting hit by the U.S. central bank’s moves.

The report also showed that household cash stockpiles, the sum of the balances in checking accounts, savings, time deposits, and money market funds, were effectively unchanged at $18.4 trillion. Consumer checking accounts and money market balances rose but were offset by declines in savings and time deposits.