The Land Registry received 5,800 sale and purchase agreements for all types of building units for registration in March.

This was an increase of 25.5% over February 2003, but a decrease of 10.8% compared with March 2002.

Using a 12-month moving average, the figure for March 2003 represented a decrease of 0.9% from the previous month and of 9.7% compared with March 2002.

The total consideration of these agreements in the month was $14.3 billion, up 79.3% over February 2003 and 10.3% compared with the amount for March 2002.

These statistics generally relate to land transactions executed up to four weeks prior to their submission for registration, as there is usually a time lag between the execution of deeds and their lodgement for registration.