The housing collapse caved in family finances, according to a new study of consumer finances by the Federal Reserve, with the median net worth for families in the Northeast plummeting 28 percent to $120,000 in 2010 from $167,000 in 2007.
In a surprising revelation, the Fed study suggests the median family income in the Northeast was little changed between 2007 and 2010, though average income dropped by a significant amount.
The Fed reported a median income of $53,700 in the Northeast as of 2010, down just $200 from three years earlier. Calculated as an average of all households, however, the drop was far greater ”“ from about $105,000 to just over $99,000.
Average household net worth for families living in the Northeast was $615,000 in 2010, down from $685,000 in 2007.
The Fed attributed the relative resiliency of Northeast household incomes in part the staggered impact of the housing bubble nationally, with the West and South absorbing the brunt of the crisis during the period studied.
The Fed did not include data at the state or county level.
