New Zealand building consents for residential housing fell 1.7 percent in February, the second straight monthly decline.

Around $47,000 could be shaved off the cost of each new place built in factories under Labour's planned KiwiBuild 100,000-house scheme, an opposition spokesman says.

New Zealand's inbound migration rose to a 10-year high last month, as China overtook the UK to become the biggest source of net migrants for the first time in a decade.

Kiwibank has announced it will lift its home loan rates in response to yesterday's Reserve Bank decision to increase the Official Cash Rate.