Reports coming out of Sydney today claim that the local property market continued to tighten in the March quarter with turnover falling significantly as prices increased slightly.

Data from the Real Estate Institute (REI) of NSW show that over the quarter, the number of houses sold in Sydney decreased by more than 27% and units by more than 30%, compared with sales during the previous three months.

However the median sale price of a unit in Sydney increased 2.7 per cent to $380,000.

REI president Rowen Kelly said: "Investors are a major component of the property market and the Government has actively discouraged them from buying and selling property in this state though their anti-investment tax regime."