Consumer confidence has fallen back into negative territory after a brief rise into the black last month.

The widely-watched and long-running Westpac - Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment eased 1.2 per cent in March to 99.5.

Unlike February's 100.7 reading, March's sub-100 figure means there are more pessimistic households than optimistic ones financially.

A significant number of analysts had been expecting the Reserve Bank to back up its 25-basis-point rate cut in February with another this month, but it declined to do so.

"Some softening in sentiment was always likely in March given the big lift last month following the RBA's surprise 25-basis-point rate cut," noted Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan in the report.

"Interest rate moves often generate a big initial reaction that dissipates over time."

Westpac also cited a steep rise in petrol prices (averaging 14 cents a litre) and relatively weak economic growth figures released last week as reasons why confidence may have fallen.

In a worrying sign for retailers, people do not see now as a good time to buy a major household item.

This sub-index fell 5.1 per cent to its second lowest reading since 2009, 9.3 per cent below its long-run average.

"It is very likely that at least part of this decline is a reaction to recent falls in the Australian dollar and the impact this is expected to have on the cost of imported goods," Mr Hassan observed.

Although Westpac does note that this is still above the December low.

While consumers may be cautious about buying household items, the same does not apply to houses themselves.

The proportion of people who think now is a good time to buy a dwelling is close to its long run average, and more than a quarter of households see real estate as the "wisest place for savings", up from a fifth in December.

Overall, the consumer confidence index remains 9.2 per cent above its December low and similar to levels seen before the federal budget in May last year.

The survey asked consumers about their most recalled financial news topics, and 42 per cent said they remembered news on "budget and taxation", while 40 per cent recalled stories on "economic conditions" and 31 per cent on "employment".

However, news on some of these topics was seen as less dire than at the end of last year, and over a third of respondents recalled news on interest rates which was seen as broadly neutral rather than unfavourable.