US households are now more exposed to stocks than ever before.
Equity exposure just hit a record 39.9% of household net worth. That's up 12.6 percentage points since the 2022 bear market.
Meanwhile, residential real estate exposure dropped 3.5 percentage points to 19.3% — lowest since mid-2021.
The gap between stocks and real estate? A record 20.6 percentage points.
For context: during the 2005 housing boom, real estate peaked at 24.1% of household wealth and actually exceeded equity exposure by 1 percentage point.
Today it's the opposite extreme. Household wealth has never been this tilted toward equities.
This isn't inherently bad, but it does mean households are more sensitive to stock market volatility than at any point in history. When $SPY sneezes, balance sheets feel it.
Equity exposure just hit a record 39.9% of household net worth. That's up 12.6 percentage points since the 2022 bear market.
Meanwhile, residential real estate exposure dropped 3.5 percentage points to 19.3% — lowest since mid-2021.
The gap between stocks and real estate? A record 20.6 percentage points.
For context: during the 2005 housing boom, real estate peaked at 24.1% of household wealth and actually exceeded equity exposure by 1 percentage point.
Today it's the opposite extreme. Household wealth has never been this tilted toward equities.
This isn't inherently bad, but it does mean households are more sensitive to stock market volatility than at any point in history. When $SPY sneezes, balance sheets feel it.
