That old saying, "money doesn't buy you happiness", appears to be ringing true for Australians.
New figures out on Thursday show that households, on average, are wealthier than they have ever been.
Individual household wealth rose to $327,263 at the end of March, up $4,248 from last December, the biggest quarterly rise in four years, Australian Bureau of Statistics found.
But having more money in their pockets hasn't stop people from feeling gloomy, with consumer confidence taking a hit in April and May after details of the tough budget spending cuts emerged.
CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian says the record jump in household wealth is because of rising housing values and share prices, both of which are expected to climb further.
"Not only has household wealth levels lifted to fresh record highs but generational-low interest rates are also reducing borrowing costs across an array of sectors," he said.
"The global financial crisis caused the biggest ever drop in wealth for Australian households, however wealth levels have been repaired over the past couple of years and have hit new highs."
Mr Sebastian is confident that the current dip in consumer confidence will recover, partly thanks to improving individual wealth.
An interesting part of the ABS data is the rise in money that is ready to spend.
At the end of March, cash and deposits represented 22 per cent of net household wealth, which was above the decade average of 20 per cent.
"Interestingly the improvement in wealth levels and low interest rate environment over the past year has supported a modest lift in consumer activity," Mr Sebastian said.
"Higher wealth and firmer confidence should boost consumer spending in the months ahead."
Total household wealth, or net worth stood at $7.767 billion at the end of March, after rising $138 billion in the first three months of the year.
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