A tenants' watchdog has warned rent increases risk pricing people out of Auckland's heated housing market, sparking homelessness and social problems.

The floodgates are set to open for Chinese buyers to pour billions into NZ real estate as restrictions on privately held capital are eased: report.

An ex-state house in Mt Albert purchased 15 months ago for $758,000 sold last night for $1,102,000.

A land-buying agency with compulsory acquisition powers is the most radical of the Productivity Commission's proposals for dealing with Auckland's housing crisis.

Nearly 6000 new apartments are set to be built across Auckland over the next three years, with most planned for suburban and city fringe areas, new research reveals.

OPINION: Landlord Tim Duffett says it's time to change the whole way we rent homes in New Zealand.

Landlords say they're being left thousands of dollars out of pocket by errant tenants, forcing up rents for law-abiding Kiwis.

Major banks are set to drop deposit thresholds for apartments, making it easier for cash-strapped first-home hunters to get a foot in Auckland's rampant property market.

Phil Twyford's reputation has grown as steadily as homeowners' and state house tenants' woes, writes Claire Trevett.

Goodman Property Trust, the country's second-biggest listed property investor, has ratcheted up development plans with four new industrial projects in Auckland worth $45.8 million.

With annual price growth at 13.9 per cent, it is no surprise Auckland is increasingly dominant in lifting the country's overall growth rate, writes Geoff Barnett.

Surging Auckland house prices would put New Zealand's lenders at risk if there was a significant downturn.

House prices in Sydney rose 15 per cent in May from a year earlier, prompting a warning of a price bubble in Australia's biggest city.

An Auckland student who became a homeowner at just 22-years-old is not a fair representation of all students, says the national students' association.

While thousands of Aucklanders despair at their chances of owning a house, a determined 22-year-old student is proof it can be done.

Surplus Crown land at Manukau, Avondale, Massey East and Hobsonville are set to be offered up to private development companies.

The agent says the price demonstrates the fierce competition among investors and developers for properties with subdividable sections.

Argosy Property reported a 25 per cent drop in annual profit, while its rental income rose, as the listed property investor returned to a tax paying position.

As property prices in the area escalate by around $1000 a day, agent says owners of the brand-new $1.14m house have simply "changed their minds".

Today's Budget will unveil details of Government plans to partner with private developers to build affordable houses on Crown-owned land in Auckland.

Data released by REINZ - median national sale prices - does support the Prime Minister’s statement that house prices rose during the previous Labour government.

Nearly one in five Auckland homes are sold within two years of being purchased, the Government has been told by officials.

ANZ and KiwiBank have cut their mortgage rates as speculation grows the Reserve Bank will cut the OCR.

Head of Auckland's biggest new housing precinct says people looking for short-term fix aren't welcome.

Thursday's Budget will be judged just as much by what is missing from the document as by what it actually contains.

Agents have welcomed new measures to track foreigners buying property but say tougher moves on money laundering are needed.

Moves to crackdown on property speculators have been welcomed as a step in the right direction by market commentators but one analyst says the changes may be too little too late.

The Government's property speculator tax crackdown will lead to large-scale real estate dumping before its October 1 start and widespread evasion and avoidance, experts say.

Economists are divided over the likely impact on the Auckland property market of new tax moves to target speculators.