New rules restricting low deposit home loans will now not apply to new home builds, says the Reserve Bank.

Japan slashed its estimate of economic growth for the July-September quarter Monday as investment by companies slowed more than first estimated.

Ensuring Auckland copes with growth and has enough offices, apartments and shops is one of the biggest challenges the city faces.

Reserve Bank home-loan cooling measures have driven business into mortgage brokers' hands, says Jeff Royle.

Rules slash number of low-deposit mortgages but house buyers still encouraged to ask.

The Auckland Council reckons Auckland is 20,000 to 30,000 dwellings short of what it needs, writes Brian Fallow.The NZ Institute of Economic Research begs to differ, putting the shortfall at just 5000.

We must first conquer our island syndrome and pull together if we are ever to win the world from the edge, writes Kevin Roberts.

Westpac has today split its mortgage rates depending on whether the borrower has more or less than 20 per cent equity.

When it releases its monetary policy statement on Thursday the Reserve Bank is expected to turn up the volume on its warning that it is preparing to remove the support of ultra-low interest rates in place since the recession.

The statisticians have plucked a few of the lice out of households' lousy record for saving.

New Zealand has applauded a new global trade deal involving nearly 160 countries - but warns more needs to be done to ensure "trade-distorting policies" don't destroy the livelihoods of farmers.

Forbes magazine has named New Zealand as the world's second best country to do business in, behind only a resurgent Ireland (+infographic).

International dairy product prices are pushing sharply higher, driven by strong demand from China.

Auckland house prices rose at the rate of $677 a day in November, based on the average price increase from October to November.

The Govt has revised the estimate of how much it expects to receive from its partial asset sales down to between $4.6 to $5b.

The New Zealand dollar is trading at 5-year highs against the Australian dollar but continues to deteriorate against the US dollar.

World prices for a basket of New Zealand's export commodities eased last month but a softer exchange rate more than compensated for the decline.

Australia's economic growth isn't losing pace and might have even picked up a little as the non-mining sectors of the economy start to recover.