Property boom gradually slowing, says Deutsche Bank

Real Estate Institute figures released last week showed that members sold 11,371 houses last month, 14 per cent more than in February and 6 per cent more than in March last year.

The national median price was $240,500, a 20 per cent gain on March 2003.

While Deutsche Bank acknowledges that the numbers were stronger than other indicators had suggested, it argues that the housing market is still caught in a gradual slowdown, which began last October.

The number of sales in March was 17 per cent down on the market's busiest month, last October, the bank points out.

For the first three months of this year, sales were 8.6 per cent lower than they were in the last three months of last year.

And, says a Deutsche Bank report: "Taking the March quarter as a whole, the median price rose by only 1.2 per cent, following an increase of 7.8 per cent in the December quarter."

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