Thanks to a buoyant stock market, the number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more NIPR (not including primary residence) rose by 200,000 to 8.6 million in 2011, according to the Spectrem Group’s Affluent Market Insights 2012 report. There are about 115 million households in the U.S.
It marks the third consecutive year of growth following the 27% decline in millionaire households to 6.7 million in 2008. The total millionaire population remains below the pre-recession high in 2007 of 9.2 million, however.
The ranks of all affluent investors increased in 2011:
• Those with $100,000 or more in net worth NIPR reached 36.7 million from 36.2 million in 2010
• Those with $500,000 or more in net worth NIPR climbed to 13.8 million from 13.5 million in 2010
• Those with $5 million or more in net worth NIPR rose to 1.078 million from 1.061 million in 2010*
• Those with $25 million or more in net worth NIPR grew to 107,000 from 105,000 in 2010*
(*Numbers included in, not in addition to, millionaire households)
Wealthy investors remain worried about the future, however. “Even if they are not directly impacted, continuing high unemployment and the depressed housing market are bedeviling wealthy investors,” said George H. Walper, Jr., president of Spectrem Group, in a release. “Investor optimism has climbed from negative in April 2011 to neutral in February 2012, according to our monthly Spectrem Affluent Investor Confidence Index, but investor outlook won’t significantly improve until unemployment falls significantly lower.”
Home values still make up a big part of the total wealth of many households. According to Spectrem, the primary residence makes up:
• 29% of total assets for Mass Affluent ($100,000 – $999,999 Net Worth NIPR)
• 16% of total assets for Millionaire ($1MM-$5M Net Worth NIPR)
• 9% of total assets for Ultra High Net Worth: (5MM+ Net Worth NIPR)
Additional wealthy investor insights from Spectrem are available at www.MillionaireCorner.com.
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