Household wealth fell for the second consecutive quarter, decreasing by 1.9 per cent ($276 billion) in the September quarter 2022, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Total household wealth is now $14.2 trillion, after the previous fall of 3.3 per cent ($494 billion) in the June quarter this year. However, household wealth grew by 0.7 per cent through the year despite these two consecutive quarterly falls.
ABS head of finance and wealth statistics Katherine Keenan said: “This fall in household wealth was almost entirely driven by the decrease in the value of residential land and dwellings, which recorded its largest decline since December 2008.”
The softer fall in household wealth in the September quarter was due in part to an increase in household deposits (up 3.5 per cent to $50.8 billion), driven by a rise in term deposits.
“The record increase in household take up of term deposits coincided with increasing interest rates, and income tax returns,” Ms Keenan said.
The contribution of superannuation to the fall in wealth was relatively flat at -0.1 percentage points (compared to the -2.0 percentage point contribution in the June quarter).
The superannuation guarantee was increased in the September quarter from 10 per cent to 10.5 per cent. This resulted in increased employer contributions and helped offset impacts from domestic and international stock markets.
