Confidence fell as households turned sour on the economic outlook, although more remain positive rather about their personal situation.

Consumer prices rose as a weaker currency and higher global oil prices lifted the cost of petrol.

How can the air be gently let out of the souffle without having it collapse? Mathhew Goodson writes.

Auckland's credit-financed housing bubble is a grave threat to the NZ economic outlook, writes Matthew Goodson.

Traders in the local currency are sensitive to suggestions that the Reserve Bank may intervene in the market to lower its value.

"Not at all" was governor Graeme Wheeler's response when asked on Thursday if the Reserve Bank had made a policy mistake last year in raising interest rates.

The New Zealand dollar could fall as low as US60c against the greenback this year following yesterday's official cash rate cut, says a market strategist.

The Reserve Bank's decision to lower the official cash rate has been heralded as a positive move for house buyers outside Auckland.

NZIER’s shadow monetary policy board favours an on-hold decision when the Reserve Bank reviews the official cash rate.

Too many drivers are keeping the Auckland property market hot, and experts see little or no change, as David Maida discovers.

Auckland prices have been rising faster than elsewhere in the country, due to recent action by the Reserve Bank and the Govt.

The day of the Kiwi quarter-acre dream is a dream of yesteryear, especially for those of us who call Auckland home.

To cut or not to cut? That is the question the Reserve Bank confronts ahead of next week's official cash rate decision, writes Brian Rudman.

Given how large the imbalances in the Auckland housing market are, house price growth is likely to persist in the near term.

We might never see a CGT in this country, which could well be a good thing given the compromises that would likely be part of its introduction, writes Mark Lister.

Watching the Reserve Bank grapple with the housing market has been like watching someone blowing up a long party balloon and trying to twist it into one of those sausage dogs.

The Auckland residential property boom has developed some of the characteristics of the Dublin bubble a decade ago, writes Brian Gaynor.

The Reserve Bank desperately needs the support of the Government to address the distortion its monetary policy is helping create, writes Peter Lyons.

The Reserve Bank has abandoned its one-size-fits-all approach to loan-to-value ratio curbs recognising house price inflation is an Auckland problem.

Editorial: The Government continues to insist unaffordable prices are entirely caused by a shortage of houses, but the bank has long recognised that demand has to be tackled too.

New lending rules targeting Auckland residential property investors will cool the market - but the city's "gravitational pull" will counter any impact, John Key says.

The Auckland region median dwelling sale price remained frozen over the last month at $720,000, but dropped in three areas.

Next week's Budget will outline plans by the Government to develop its own land holdings in Auckland in a bid to boost supply.

Auckland's housing market is almost certainly in bubble territory, write Gareth Morgan and Geoff Simmons. Here's their plan to avoid a crisis.

The Reserve Bank has opened the door to a cut in the official cash rate, but the conditionality attached suggests any decision to go through with it remains some way off.