Americans' wealth rises by $3 trillion but remains below early 2022 peak

Elevated by a strong stock market, Americans' household wealth rose to nearly $149 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, new federal data shows. But that's still several trillion dollars shy of its recent peak.

The net worth of households rose by $3 trillion in the early part of this year, according to the Federal Reserve's quarterly report on US financial accounts. The data also includes nonprofit organizations.

Households saw the value of their stock holdings increase by $2.4 trillion. The S&P 500 rose and fell over the first quarter, but ultimately ended up around 7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped nearly 17%, its best quarterly gain since the end of 2020.

But these advances were offset by a slumping housing market. The value of real estate holdings dropped by $0.6 trillion as higher interest rates cooled sales in the first quarter.

Though Americans' net worth has been rising since the third quarter of last year, it has yet to return to its recent high point of nearly $153 trillion in early 2022.

"We're climbing our way back," said Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist for Nationwide, an insurance and financial services firm. "If the equity market continues to rally as it is, maybe it won't be too long before we're back to the peak."

Americans' appetite for debt continued to cool in the first quarter.