The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released household finance & wealth data for the December quarter of 2022.
The ABS revealed that total household wealth declined by $57 billion (-0.4%) over the quarter, driven by a $260 billion (-2.7%) decline in the value of dwelling assets:
Household wealth was also down $614 billion (-4.1%) from its March quarter peak, driven by a $547 billion (-5.6%) decrease in the value of dwelling assets over the same period.
In per capita terms, household net wealth fell by $4,929 (-0.9%) over the quarter, driven by a $11,690 (-3.2%) decline in the value of dwelling assets.
Since the March 2022 peak, per capita household wealth has fallen by $31,171 (-5.4%), with per capita housing values down $32,468 (-8.5%):
The “good” news for Australian households is that dwelling values appear to have bottomed in early February, with values now rising at a solid pace:
This suggests the retrenchment in household wealth should have slowed over the March quarter of 2023; although financial assets are now taking a hammering.
