Millionaires’ ranks grow, poll shows
NEW YORK — The number of US millionaires increased by 600,000 in 2010, according to Spectrem Group.
About 8.4 million US households had assets of $1 million or more, not including primary residences, a gain of 8 percent — still below the 2007 high of 9.2 million US millionaires, Spectrem said.
“The recovery is doing better in this population, probably better than for Main Street America,’’ said George Walper Jr., president of Spectrem.
The figure is lower than before the financial crisis because the value of real estate has not recovered, he said. The survey includes the value of second homes and real-estate investments. In December, the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home values in 20 cities was down 31 percent from its peak in July 2006.
The number of ultrahigh-net-worth households, with $5 million or more in investable assets, increased 8 percent to 1.1 million in 2010, the survey said.
Household wealth was $56.8 trillion at the end of 2010, according to the Federal Reserve. Millionaires control about 56 percent of US wealth, according to a March 14 survey by Boston-based Fidelity Investments.
Millionaires turned bullish on their investments in February for the first time in more than three years, according to a Feb. 23 survey by Spectrem. Walper said he expects optimism may fall slightly in March.
“The whole issue in Japan and with the markets eroding worldwide will increase people’s concerns,’’ in the short term, he said.
