Households saw their wealth balloon to a record $11.7 trillion last quarter as cash holdings topped a trillion dollars for the first time ever, boding well for spending in the face of tepid wages growth.

Thursday's figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed households' net worth, after taking into account all their liabilities, rose 3.6 per cent to $9.4 trillion in the three months to December.

Most of the gains came from a $247 billion increase in home and land values, which took them to $6.4 trillion. The country's annual economic output (GDP) is worth $1.7 trillion.

This accumulation of wealth is a major reason the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) considers household balance sheets to be in good repair overall, even as they fret about debt-fuelled speculation in the property market.