Parents could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by skipping houses in elite school zones and paying to privately educate their kids elsewhere instead.

New Zealand shares rose to a new record close yesterday as holidays in Auckland and Australia kept trading volumes light.

A big marketing drive is on to draw more Chinese people to NZ real estate and the businesswoman behind it expects a huge upswing in investment.

A rare big block of Bay of Plenty development land in Ohauti, about 10 minutes' drive south of the Tauranga CBD, is to be auctioned next month.

Graham Wilkinson's Christchurch-based Retirement Assets is spending $320 million developing and expanding three retirement villages and he is now hunting for further sites.

Residents will next month begin moving in to the new $250 million high-rise SugarTree apartment development between Nelson St and Union St.

Auckland house values rose at almost twice the rate of the rest of New Zealand, up 9.8 per cent or $68,309 in the last year.

If investors could be bothered wading through academic research of recent decades on markets and investor behaviour, they'd probably feel like giving investing a wide berth.

Property developers and investors have enjoyed an outstanding year but Kiwi Income Property Trust chief executive Chris Gudgeon could be the star of the bunch.

Pre-sales of the first of 500 to 600 new Wynyard Quarter apartments start in February and the first show-home is being built.

A surge in Chinese investment in New Zealand residential real estate is something the Government needs to consider, but at the moment is not a significant issue says John Key.

As a wave of pro-intensification development sweeps Auckland more residents will find themselves battling to preserve the character of their neighbourhoods.

An ex-wife and a widow who teamed up against their sister-in-law have lost the latest court battle in a dispute over a prized piece of coastal land.

A reader writes: I intend to settle a cash sum on each of my grandchildren on my demise. What fish hooks exist if I place a lump sum in a KiwiSaver account for each?

A neighbour is opposing a new Auckland Ryman Healthcare village, saying views will be blocked and roads jammed with traffic when hundreds of elderly people move in.

Alexandra Park's chief executive Dominique Dowding said apartments would be for sale from February and she predicted occupation of the Green Lane West Rd places by the end of 2016.

Ryman Healthcare's application to build a retirement village in Greenlane has drawn strong community reaction both for and against the $100 million-plus project.

A Tauranga law firm will have to pay $150,000 more to retirees who lost money in Blue Chip, a Court of Appeal ruling has found.

As a long term landlord Andrew Bruce seeks long term tenancies because he takes a long term view of his investment properties.

Home buyers heeding the Prime Minister’s advice to consider an apartment can qualify to use KiwiSaver funds.

Auckland house prices have hit a new high and national sales volumes rose 11.8 per cent last month in a big spring resurgence.

The Reserve Bank is eyeing measures to discourage speculators from buying multiple houses as it acknowledges its loan-to-value ratio (LVR) restrictions have favoured investors.

West Auckland is about to get a huge boost, after a big landlord this morning announced a $36 million expansion and upgrade of New Lynn's LynnMall shopping centre.

Two of New Zealand’s biggest commercial and industrial landlords have this morning reported half-year results down on last year.

A 157 per cent Auckland Council rates rise and a 140 per cent operating costs increase have been blamed for the axing of guaranteed rental returns on a city apartment block.

It's time the Reserve Bank found a way to rein in New Zealand's biggest landlords, writes Bernard Hickey.

October was a crazy month for financial markets.

House values throughout New Zealand rose 1.1pc in the past three months, the slowest rise in two years, according to QV data out.