The chart is meaningless, unless one knows what is in one's portfolio as a whole. The chart is also about "change," ie the delta function, rather than absolute net worth from various categories of assets, which of course accentuates modest changes in values vis a vis the delta function. I own a boat load of real estate with little leverage. The changes to date in my absolute net worth are relatively small. Cheers.
I'm not sure I follow you. As I understand it, the chart demonstrates that real estate appreciation accounts for 61% of gains in household net worth in 2005. And on average, real estate appreciation accounts for approx. 41% of the gains in household net worth for 03, 04 and 05. To my mind, that means if the real estate bubble pops, it will erase a huge chunk of household net wealth accumulated over the last several years. Moreover, the increase in household net worth has been declining every year since 2003. If this trend continues (and I think it will), this will most likely cause people to begin dipping into there disposable income to build up their savings.