SYDNEY, April 21 (Reuters) - Australian retail sales surpassed expectations in March as soaring house prices boosted consumer confidence while the re-opening of state borders allowed cashed-up households to splurge on travel again. Sales rose 1.4% in March, from February, outpacing market forecasts for a 1% gain, preliminary data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Wednesday. Sales of A$30.72 billion ($23.71 billion) were still up a hefty 2.3% on March last year, just when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The ABS will release the final estimate for February sales on May 10. ($1 = 1.2958 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)