Projections for 2008 in a US Federal Reserve study of US household wealth for the years 2004-7 suggest falling share and property prices more than erased the gains in the three years of the main study, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Average net worth is estimated to have fallen 22.7 per cent from 2007 until October 2008. The median is estimated to have fallen only 17.8 per cent, indicating that falls were concentrated in wealthier households.