A Tauranga real estate agent who sold a house without revealing a stunning sea view would be partially blocked has been fined $8000.

Consumer confidence remains strong but in Auckland soaring house prices are hitting sentiment.

A new free residential property database will soon be expanded and more information added.

COMMENT: Since announcing the policy, Labour has been almost silent on what it's planning and instead got distracted by what National was doing, writes Claire Trevett.

SNEAK PEEK: Take a look inside Auckland's most expensive mansion of 2016.

A new free residential property data base has been launched and expansions plans will soon see new information added.

Frustrated would-be first-home buyers will get a hand up as the Government moves to lift house price limits for KiwiSaver subsidies and low-deposit loans.

COMMENT: It's not the "how-to" that's a problem. It's the Government's refusal to admit there is a crisis.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

If you have ever dreamed of living luxe life in Auckland overlooking beautiful parks, sea views and skyline, a penthouse in Epsom may just be the ticket.

COMMENT: Yesterday, Andrew Little was at the New Lynn Community Centre to deliver the policy he hopes will win Labour the next election.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

One real estate agent is worried that Airbnb is taking much needed rental properties off the Auckland market.

A real estate agent has been found guilty of disgraceful conduct after she did a deal for free haircuts in exchange for allowing a horse to graze on someone else's land without permission.

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.