Household wealth up 2.7%

Household wealth rose for a sixth straight quarter by 2.7 per cent ($431 billion) in the March quarter 2024, according to recently released figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Total household wealth was $16.2 trillion in the March quarter, which was 10.2 per cent ($1.5 trillion) higher than a year ago.

Residential land and dwellings were the largest contributors to quarterly growth in household wealth, adding 1.3 percentage points.

Dr Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, said:

“Rising asset values continued to drive growth in household wealth in the first quarter of 2024, with house prices continuing to increase.”

Superannuation assets contributed 0.9 percentage points to growth in household wealth this quarter and was driven by strong investment performance in both domestic and overseas markets.

Households’ direct ownership of shares and other equity contributed an additional 0.4 percentage points to the quarterly growth in household wealth.

Household deposits grew by 2.0 per cent ($32.9 billion) in the March quarter, and 7.1 per cent over the last year.

This was driven by a $11.2 billion increase in transferable deposits and $21.7 billion increase in non-transferable deposit accounts like savings and fixed-term deposits.

“Growth in household deposits since March quarter last year has slowed compared to the higher rate of growth seen from 2020 to 2022.

This is consistent with the falling household saving ratio,” Dr Tan said.

Total demand for credit was $101.0 billion in the March quarter.

This was driven by private non-financial businesses ($39.8 billion), households ($31.3 billion), state and local general government ($10.9 billion), and the Commonwealth government ($9.6 billion).

The net lending position of the Commonwealth Government this quarter was driven by the acquisition of deposit assets of $10.6 billion and was partly offset by $8.9 billion of Treasury bonds being issued.

The Australian Office of Financial Management has decelerated the pace of new Commonwealth government debt issuance as corporate and income tax receipts continue to support the government’s cash balance.

About Chris Dang Chris Dang is an accountant by training and has worked in the Financial Planning industry for many years. Chris brings together property, accounting, and financial planning experience to help clients of Metropole Wealth Advisory create a holistic plan for their wealth.