U.S. net worth takes a hit (Huffington Post)

Economic numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show that between 2005 and 2010, American households lost 35% of their average net worth. U.S. household median net worth fell to $66,740 in 2010, from $102,844 in 2005. One-third of net worth has been wiped out and it points to the decline in U.S. real estate values and changes in the stock market. The figures make concerns in Canada about a housing bubble in Vancouver and Toronto all the more real, as seen with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's move last month to tighten mortgage lending rules in Canada. "The real estate market [here] has been fairly stable, it has been actually the one outlier that's been driving confidence in the Canadian economy, but it show how fragile thing are and how quickly things can change," said Nik Nanos of Nanos Research.

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