Perth house prices are down by 2.7 per cent since the beginning of the year, but that trend doesn't faze those buying property, with average loan sizes in the city rising fast. The property price index for May published by RP Data and Rismark shows that property prices fell by 2.7 per cent in the four months to April and then increased by 0.6 per cent in May. RP Data and Rismark caution that the May sample is small and suggest that the "final" data for April is "more comprehensive". By contrast, the "hedonic index" published by the pair of property researchers shows that Australia-wide property prices increased by 2.4 per cent in the four months to April and by five per cent in the five months to May. Separate data published by Australian Finance Group, the largest mortgage aggregator (a loose network of brokers) shows a massive leap in the size of the average mortgage in Western Australian in the six months to June 2007. AFG said the average mortgage size in WA increased by 13 per cent, to $369,000, in the five months to May. Australia-wide the average mortgage size increased by 5.6 per cent to $317,000 in the year to June 2007. Chris Joye, managing director of Rismark, said: "We believe that the Perth property bubble has burst, and we anticipate subdued to negative rates of growth in the near term." Kevin Matthews, executive director national operations at AFG, commented in the media release that brokers are reporting a slowdown in growth within the WA market to more sustainable levels.