Authorities are hopeful the results of a half-million-dollar rock-fall study will provide some answers for Port Hills residents.
The modelling programming, designed by the University of Milan, was the subject of a media conference held by CERA this afternoon.
CERA Chief Executive Roger Sutton says it will give some indication as to what houses may be safe to enter again.
"What we're trying to do here is work out with this fancy computer model are those houses really unsafe at all, does the model show any rocks ending up near them," he says.
"Or is it just the way the land is, the typography of the area means that rocks are never going to end up in those neighbours' houses where rocks have already landed."
