Consumer wealth takes hit from property declines, COVID crisis

Roy Morgan’s Wealth Report, released on Monday, found that Australians’ gross personal wealth had increased by 89.9 per cent over the past 12 years, from $5.3 trillion in December 2007 to $9.93 trillion in December 2019.

This amounted to a 20 per cent annual growth in gross wealth – including assets such as owner-occupied property and super, without debt factored in – over the period, Roy Morgan said.

However, looking at a shorter time frame, wealth levels declined 2.1 per cent year-on-year over the 12-month period to December 2019, which was mainly a result of property prices declining. 

The research firm noted home prices only increased over two of the eight quarters from September 2017 to September 2019, and that owner-occupied property made up $4.93 trillion of total Australian personal wealth.

Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said the figures were also likely to be significantly altered as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, which had seen a rising number of consumers lose their income and draw down on their super.

“Our latest research on the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis found that 3.8 million Australians have had work hours reduced and 2.7 million have been stood down,” Ms Levine said. 

“For many this will impact on their assets; around half a million people have already withdrawn money from their superannuation under special pandemic provisions.” 

While property made up the greatest share of Australians’ personal wealth, the amounts in deposit or transaction accounts had grown the fastest since December 2007, showing Australians were still reliant on cash or wages for a significant part of their wealth.

Deposit and transaction accounts as a personal asset class increased by 144 per cent to $712 billion over the 12-year period, while super accounts also grew 142.7 per cent to $2.75 trillion by December 2019.