American households lost about $6.8 trillion in wealth over the first three quarters of 2022 as the stock market SPX, -0.73% DJIA, -0.90% COMP, -0.70% shed more than 25% of its value, the Federal Reserve reported Friday in the government’s quarterly financial accounts.
Nominal net worth fell 4.6% to $143.3 trillion, as the market value of assets fell by $6 trillion and liabilities rose by about $900 billion. Households’ balance sheets were propped up by a 10% increase in home equity, which is the greatest source of wealth for most American families.
But the loss in real wealth from January through September was about twice as large — $13.5 trillion in current dollars — after accounting for the rapid inflation experienced this year. Inflation makes both debts and liabilities worth less in terms of purchasing power.
The 8.6% drop in real wealth over three quarters is the second-fastest decline on record (the data series begins in 1959). The only greater drop was following the financial crisis of 2008-09. (The wealth lost during the Great Depression of the 1930s would likely hold the record if we had the data.)