A Federal Reserve report released Thursday showed U.S. household net worth soared to a record $92.8 trillion in the last quarter of 2016, fueled by an end-of-year surge in stocks and a steady climb in home prices.
The Wall Street Journal reported the Federal Reserve's quarterly financial accounting showed the biggest contributor to the household net worth hike was the stock market, which added $728 billion to household balance sheets in the fourth quarter.
The Journal noted the stock market rallied by about 8 percent in the last quarter after the election of President Donald Trump – and has climbed an additional 6 percent so far this year.
Real-estate gains also contributed to the fourth-quarter rise, the Federal Reserve report showed. The Journal reported the value of real estate owned by households and nonprofit organizations climbed by $557 billion in the fourth quarter, reaching a record $26.5 trillion.
"The national rise in home prices benefits the majority of Americans who own homes, and rising equities benefit many middle-class households with savings in 401(k) and IRA accounts," Journal correspondent Josh Zumbrun wrote.
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