We now have a tax system that favours the investor over any family wanting to own a home of their own - regardless of price, writes Alan Dudson.

The Salvation Army has bought the Destiny Church complex in the Auckland suburb of Mt Wellington and has its 12-storey building in Queen St up for sale.

Editorial: A contributor to our website today suggests an interesting way to make houses more affordable for young people seeking their first homes.

Shops and bars will open in downtown Christchurch next month for the first time since the February 22 earthquake two years ago.

Work in post-disaster Christchurch has officially swung from recovery and demolition to rebuild, the Government said today.

"Is National planning to confiscate private property to get houses built on it?" asks Tim Hazledine. "Labour has come out with a promise to build 100,000 new houses, which turns out to be half-baked in its lack of detail."

Almost a year after the Bronwyn Pullar scandal erupted, privacy breaches at the Accident Compensation Corporation remain "unacceptably high", chairwoman Paula Rebstock says.

Join us at noon today for a live chat with Geoff Cooper, economist for Auckland City.

An out-of-pocket Mainzeal Property and Construction subcontractor estimates the builder could record $50 million to $100 million of losses.

An Auckland construction boss has warned about the building resurgence, saying now can be the most perilous time for businesses.

The gigantic task of upgrading New Zealand's earthquake-prone building stock to a safe level has not yet sunk in, Housing and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson says.

Imperilled are the jobs of hundreds of employees, and the financial future of numerous subcontractors, writes Brian Rudman. The latter are now at risk of being bankrupted for no fault of their own.

The collapse of Mainzeal has people worrying about who will construct the residential and commercial buildings required for Christchurch, writes Liam Dann.

A mainzeal contractor has been issued with a trespass order after trying to remove $1 million worth of equipment from an apartment building yesterday morning.

New Zealand's commercial construction sector has been nailed into the ground by the recession, industry chiefs say, and Mainzeal Property and Construction's receivership came after a string of others.

Angry subcontractors are trying to retrieve their tools locked in a Wellington Mainzeal construction site after the company went into receivership.

SkyCity Entertainment Group is looking at expanding in Queenstown with accommodation, big-ticket sponsorship and new restaurants.

Mainzeal Property and Construction - one of New Zealand's largest construction companies - has gone into receivership.

It's time for a dose of fatalism and some common sense when it comes to dealing with earthquake-prone buildings across New Zealand in the wake of the Christchurch quakes.

A Northland rural commercial property, occupying a prominent highway position an hour north of Whangarei and previously planned as the site of a motorhome village, has been put up for sale.

A large villa leased to four commercial tenants and located in the popular Auckland city fringe boutique business district of Ponsonby is for sale.

New Zealanders are showing a rising resistance to overseas investors, a business survey has found.

Nearly 1000 apartments and townhouses priced from $500,000 are planned at Wynyard Quarter on the Auckland waterfront when the first block of residential land is offered to developers in March.

The country will continue to swelter, as temperatures in some areas reach at least 30C today.

Consents for 127 retirement village units is one feature of strong building consents data for December.