Struggling Allied Farmers says it has settled the about $27m sale of stage two of Queenstown's Five Mile property development early.

Property values in NZ have continued to decline gradually over the past few months as market sentiment remains cautious, according to the August report by QV.

One-time factory worker Zhang Xin rode China's property boom.

House prices in Auckland fell during August as the number of properties being listed continues to stall.

Allied Farmers chief executive Rob Alloway has resigned, following chairman John Loughlin out of a firm whose finance arm is in receivership.

A real estate agent who tampered with a sale and purchase agreement to increase her stake in a commission split has been fined.

The $6.3bn takeover by Graeme Hart's Reynolds Group of Pactiv Corporation was challenged in a lawsuit by a trade union pension plan.

A total of 110 Viaduct Capital secured depositors are owed NZ$7.8 million, including accrued capitalised interest. Under the Crown retail deposit guarantee 94 depositors owed NZ$7.3 million are covered.

Graeme Hart is sticking with his longtime strategy of heavily leveraging his business deals, borrowing as much as US$5bn to help pay for Pactiv.

The man behind the $27m purchase of a Queenstown property development from Allied Farmers is declining to say how the deal is being financed amid speculation Allied may be helping him.