House prices are falling at their fastest pace in at least a quarter of a century and there are just half the number of job advertisements as a year ago. But a Reserve Bank board meeting in Sydney today is expected to conclude that another interest rate cut is not needed.

A survey of detached house prices by the Bureau of Statistics released yesterday found prices fell 6.7% across Australia's eight capital cities over the year ended March - the biggest fall in the survey's 23-year history.

Sydney suffered the second largest annual price fall of 7.3%, second only to Perth, where the abrupt end of the commodities boom dragged house values down 10.1%.

Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian