An Uneven Recovery in Household Wealth

This week, the Federal Reserve released data from the Financial Accounts of the United States for the third quarter of 2013 showing that aggregate household net worth breached a new record high and has more than offset the $13 trillion decline during the “Great Recession.” However, adjusted for inflation, evaluating the distributional aspects of wealth, and taking it down to the household level tells a different story.

In the most recent edition of Housing Insights, Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group investigates how the current recovery in household wealth compares to previous cycles and whether the traditional positive impact of rising wealth on consumer spending may be overstated in the current cycle.

An Uneven Recovery in Household Wealth (PDF)