A property on a quarter-acre section in Otara that failed to attract a visitor at its first open home has sold for $605,000.

National and Labour's core goals for housing are very similar. But the scale, delivery and funding of their policies differ.

As if low interest rates and record immigration numbers were not enough, now something else is biting into Auckland's stretched housing markets.

Analysis shows just 43 per cent of target-age Aucklanders could buy a $500,000 house under bank lending criteria.

Govt is being accused of making up policy "on the hoof" after it revealed that it would no longer be taking dividends from the state housing corporation.

Westpac's New Zealand unit is cutting interest-only lending terms to a maximum of five years, in a market where investors are the driving force.

COMMENT: If you can't grow the wealth of your nation, poverty, inequality and all the other social issues associated with that will grow.

What could cause big changes to New Zealand and Australian's housing markets?

COMMENT: My house is earning more than I do. This is not cool. I often work 12-hour days. The stress forces me to drink heavily.

COMMENT: John Key is more worried about the short-term fates of leveraged-up speculators and developers than the long-term fate of Generation Rent.

Labour's loudly heralded housing policy announcement today will be received with more interest than an opposition party normally receives.

Labour will promise to build 50,000 bargain-priced homes for first-home buyers in Auckland over the next 10 years in a rejig of its 2013 KiwiBuild policy.

Barfoot & Thompson wouldn't divulge who the new owners were, or how much they paid for it.

Auckland's ever-shrinking affordable housing market has shrunk even further.

Comment: John Key and Graeme Wheeler should fix the housing crisis - not point the finger at each other.

COMMENT: NZ household wealth figures show the booming residential property market is a major contributor to inequality.

COMMENT: Renovating kitchens, bathrooms best but don't spend too much.

A Remuera mansion is thought to be Auckland's most expensive mansion sale of 2016.

Prime Minister John Key has expressed further frustration about the Reserve Bank's response to rising house prices.

COMMENT: Just like Australia, New Zealand has rampant property prices, and our tax system allows negative gearing.

The Herald's Home Truths series has highlighted the serious problems that make our housing unaffordable - but also pointed to some solutions.

COMMENT: Increasing urban density is the only policy that ensures both current and prospective home owners can win.

The Reserve Bank has told the Government to review immigration policy in a bid to stem rising house prices.

Summerset Group, expects the opening of a new village in the Auckland this year will keep sales humming.

Welcome to squeezing in and squeezing up on Auckland's northwestern outskirts.

Tenants and first home buyers will suffer if tougher new invesor lending rules are introduced, says a landlords group. Andrew King

A Canterbury homestead with links to European nobility is up for sale.

A vandalised, abandoned $6 million-plus Auckland mansion nicknamed "Circus McGurkus" is coming down.

A historical cottage tucked away in Auckland's CBD failed to sell at auction when the seller rejected a bid because it failed to meet the reserve price.

The Government's announcements are important because, in our view, a National Policy Statement alone is not sufficient.