Australian household wealth fell in the June quarter

By Leith van Onselen

Commsec has released a note summarising the quarterly financial accounts released today by the ABS, which showed that net household financial wealth per capita fell from $76,748 to $75,509 in the June quarter, although it was up by 12.4% over the past year (see next chart).

According to Commsec, households held 22.2% of assets in cash or deposits in the June quarter, which was well above the decade average of 20%, but also below longer-term norms. Similarly, pension funds held 15.3% of assets in cash and deposits, above the long-term average of 8.8% (see below charts).

Commsec estimates that household wealth may have risen by up to 10% over the current quarter on the back of the rising sharemarket.