Stock market rally helps household wealth recover

The run-up in share prices has helped restore the net wealth of Spanish households to levels last seen before the current crisis broke, according to figures released Monday by the Bank of Spain.

The net worth of families — assets minus liabilities — climbed 19 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier to 922.640 billion euros, the highest level since 2007. The advance is explained by a hike of 10 percent in the value of equity holdings in line with the increase in share prices in the Spanish stock market between the second quarter of last year and the second quarter of this year.

The value of bank deposits and cash held by households also increased 5 percent in the quarter. Household wealth has now grown for the past four quarters in a row and looks set to increase further. The blue-chip Ibex 35 on Monday posted its ninth consecutive new high for the year, closing up 0.36 percent at 10,037.80 points.

Net worth was also boosted by an ongoing process of deleveraging by households and banks, whose total outstanding debt at the end of June stood at 880 billion euros, down from 900 billion a year earlier, a fall of 3 percent.

There was a notable drop in the amount of mortgage debt taken on to acquire real estate.