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The chief executive of one of the Big Four banks has tipped the RBA to cut another 0.5% off official interest rates this year, and says along with the cut that there is likely to be a further decline in house prices.

NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne suggested that despite a surprise fall in unemployment - which dropped to 4.9% last month - the RBA is likely to cut rates later this year to follow its 50bp cut this month.

Clyne said the drop in unemployment was also the key to future house price movements.

"They might fall slightly," he told the AFR.

"We're not seeing a precipitous decline at this point, absent potentially rising unemployment.

"And the economy's been able to absorb the house price decline to this point. Though the reality is that house price decline does have an impact on consumer confidence."

National weighted average house prices fell 4.5% over the year to March.

Larger declines in Melbourne and Hobart (6.6% and 6.7%) were partially offset by smaller falls in Perth (1.7%). House prices in Sydney fell in line with the national trend (4.6%), according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

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