WEALTH:NEGATIVE EQUITY is a term heard frequently in many households these days - but what of the collective Irish household?
Statisticians at the Central Bank keep track of such matters. In the chart they show the value of all the bank loans of every household (red bars), of all property assets (blue) and all financial assets (green bars).
They find that Irish households collectively, despite big debts and falling property prices, still have far more assets than liabilities. That said, the recession has destroyed more than one third of the net worth (assets minus liabilities) of the Irish household sector.
Net worth fell from close to €700 billion in 2006 to a little over €400 billion at last count in early 2011.
It certainly fell further over the rest of the year as property prices slumped yet again and financial markets suffered extreme turbulence.
With no end in sight to falling property prices, net worth is likely to shrink further this year.
