Laurence Parisi
Australian household wealth hit an all-time high of $19.21 trillion in the March 2026 quarter, boosted by record property and cash investments, which sat at $12.98 trillion and $2.0 trillion, respectively, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal.
Household wealth rose by 1.32% or $224.9 billion during the March quarter, driven by growth in the value of residential land and dwellings, according to the ABS data. Australians held a record $12.98 trillion in residential property assets, accounting for 67.6% of the total household wealth, and $2.0 trillion in cash and deposits, which sat at a record high also and represented 10.4% of net worth.
Laurence Parisi, Trilogy Funds’ Head of Direct Property, said: “More than two-thirds of household wealth is now locked up in bricks and mortar assets, a proportion which has increased in recent times as property values have risen. That percentage may drop, however, as property price growth weakens in Sydney and Melbourne and potentially in other capital cities as mortgage interest rates rise,” Mr Parisi said.
“Households are also hoarding record levels of cash despite the very low level of returns after inflation.” Data from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reveals that the average interest rate paid by banks on term deposits across all maturities was just 3.55% p.a. in May 2026, while online savings accounts paid an average interest rate of 3.05% p.a.[1], meaning the yield on savers’ money held in such bank accounts is negative in real terms, or after inflation.
Household superannuation assets fell 1.6%, or $72.9 billion, for the first time since the March 2025 quarter to sit at $4.47 trillion, the ABS said. This fall came in response to the Middle East conflict as higher risks of inflation slowed domestic and overseas equity markets.
“With such a large proportion of household wealth tied up in property and cash, we are seeing investors looking to diversify their assets into higher yielding private credit and commercial property investments, which can deliver attractive risk-adjusted income returns over time,” Mr Parisi said.
According to Mr Parisi, private credit and commercial property funds can offer investors relative price stability, when compared with listed investments, and regular income, with yields between 6% p.a. and 8% p.a..
“This can represent an attractive opportunity for investors to benefit from regular income. Interest rates on savings accounts are currently yielding around 3% p.a. on average, well below the inflation rate of 4.2% p.a. in April. Australians are increasingly reassessing their extensive cash holdings given the potential opportunity costs of remaining heavily invested in lower-yielding assets,” he said.
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