Household asset values up, gearing steady 27 March 2015 4:41PM John Kavanagh Australian household wealth grew in the December quarter, thanks to higher property and financial asset values, while household gearing ratios remained steady.According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data, household net worth grew from $7.7 trillion at the end of the September quarter last year to $7.9 trillion at the end of December - an increase of 2.5 per cent.The bulk of that increase came from growth in the value of land and dwellings, which rose from $5.2 trillion in the September quarter to $5.4 trillion at the end of December.The value of household financial assets rose by $53.2 billion to $3.9 trillion. That increase was made up of a $22.8 billion increase in deposits and an $18.5 billion increase in superannuation assets.Liabilities rose $5 billion to $2.1 trillion. The ratio of interest payable to income was 10.4 per cent in the December quarter - up slightly from 10.3 per cent in the September quarter.The ABS said the long-term trend for the interest-to-income ratio has been a steady downward movement since 2010.The ratio of mortgage debt to residential land and dwellings was 29 per cent in the December quarter, down from a peak of 30.6 per cent in September 2012.