Is the pressure easing on the Auckland housing market? One economist thinks so, after the latest stats showed a largely flat property market.

Export commodity prices rose 0.7 per cent last month in both world price and New Zealand dollar terms.

Prospective home buyers have been rushing to get pre-approval for loans with less than a 20 per cent deposit before new regulations are brought in.

Experts say tighter mortgage lending rules will only a partially ease house prices, writes Jamie Gray.

Now that we know what the Reserve Bank is doing by way of curbs on low-deposit mortgage lending the question is whether it will work, writes Brian Fallow.

New loan restrictions mean the "poor middle-class" hoping to buy their first home will be left out in the cold as banks cherry pick their ideal customers.

The curbs on low-deposit home lending announced by the Reserve Bank yesterday are likely to prove more restrictive than it thinks, the Bankers Association warns.