Stocks, property boost US household wealth SURGING stocks and recovering home prices gave a strong boost to US household wealth in the first quarter, with the average net worth gaining 4.5 per cent, the Federal Reserve says. Total US household net worth rose to $US70.35 trillion ($A74.17 trillion) in the January-March period from the previous quarter, reaching a new record. Underscoring the slow but steady recovery of the economy, net household wealth was $US8.5 trillion higher than the year-ago period. Half of the gains in the first quarter were from stocks as the Dow Jones Industrial Average punched to an all-time record in March, with the S&P 500 following suit in early April. Another quarter of the gain came from rising home prices. Meanwhile households cut debt at an annual rate of 0.6 per cent in the period, with a 2.3 per cent contraction of mortgage debt offset in part by a moderate pickup in consumer credit. Household debt barely grew in 2012, rising just 0.2 per cent over the year while the economy and asset prices remained weak.