The number of millionaire households in the U.S. has risen by more than 700,000 in the last year alone.
Much of the growth is due to surging stock prices and rising house values.
The U.S. now has more than 11 million millionaire households, according to a new report by the Spectrem Group.
Spectrem defines millionaire households as those with at least $1 million in investible assets, not including their primary residence.
The number of millionaire households in the U.S. jumped by more than 700,000 last year, thanks to surging stock prices and housing values, according to a new report
‘It was the equity markets that really pulled these folks up,’ said George Walper, president of Spectrem Group. ‘This is the group that has the most equity holdings, so the biggest change is at the high end.’
Looking at the figures, it becomes clearer as to why such wealth has been created.
The S&P 500 gained 19 percent last year and the Dow was up 25 percent.
In 2009, there under 6 million millionaire households and it has gown every year since.
Richer multimillionaires have done the best according to CNBC, since they have the largest share of stocks relative to their overall wealth.
Since the financial crisis if 2008 the number of millionaire households has nearly doubled. In 2009, there were just under 6 million millionaire households
The number of households worth $5 million to $25 million grew by 84,000, to 1.35 million households.
The number of households worth more than $25 million jumped by 10 percent, increasing by 16,000 to a total of 172,000.
Experts say that so long as the stock markets continue to rise, the growth in the number of millionaire households is likely to ride.
‘I think people are pretty optimistic,’ he said. ‘But a lot has to do with whether the Democrats take the House and whether we see changes in the tax law. But right now I could see a similar increase next year.’