Two years after Auckland Council and the Government signed a "housing accord", only 102 houses are known to have been built under its "fast-track" rules.

The number of people tipping a rise in Auckland house prices has dropped.

Rod Emmerson's take on the Auckland housing accord.

Simon Collins and Anne Gibson report in a Herald investigation into Auckland's special housing areas - and find progress is surprisingly slow.

Online property business says there has been a big drop in Chinese interest in New Zealand market.

Auckland's biggest real estate agency says median house prices dropped 1.3 per cent last month and its chief also acknowledged auction clearance rates had "slowed".

Housing Minister Nick Smith has warned it is far too early to tell exactly what was going on in Auckland's pressure-cooked housing market.

"Massive" home valuation rises across the Auckland region pushed the average up 24.4 per cent annually to a new high of $918,153.

Average asking prices for Auckland homes have dropped more than $18,000 in just a month, says realestate.co.nz.

Chinese buyers are showing less of an appetite for our houses, having "backed off" according to economist Tony Alexander.

Entrenched government disquiet with current urban planning practice is behind a further Productivity Commission inquiry into regulation of urban land.

Fire safety issues have stopped construction on the first 20 terraced homes at Auckland's biggest affordable housing project.

Twenty-five lucky people walked away from a housing ballot today happy with the outcome - and it will be even sweeter if the All Blacks win tomorrow.

Mould samples collected in South Auckland homes have been found to contain health-threatening yeasts as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

A new art gallery out west and a Ponsonby block of shops were some of the Auckland buildings judged last night as being New Zealand's best.

Mary Holm answers questions on inheritance, investments, Kiwisaver and property.

From November 1, people borrowing to buy a residential investment property in Auckland will need at least a 30 per cent deposit, the Reserve Bank has decreed.

But expert warns strategy to cool Auckland's heated property market would make it harder for first-time buyers.

Multi-level blocks will be built, with 54 units to be sold to private owners and 16 rented to state tenants.

Marina investor and developer Simon Herbert now has control of three big Auckland holdings after his $22 million Pine Harbour purchase was announced last week.

The four-bedroom villa was bought by the current owner's parents in 1958 and Barfoot & Thompson real estate agent Jim Murray said it was in the zones for Auckland Grammar, Epsom Girls Grammar and Auckland Normal Intermediate.

The Productivity Commission report this week into land use for housing used a surprising word to describe what was needed to solve Auckland's housing crisis: credibility.

Controversial broadcaster Paul Henry has a new pad in the country and the purchase comes with a little bit of advice.

Bargain or ball and chain? This three-bedroom Auckland house may be the country's cheapest.

A landmark Herne Bay home has sold for $24 million - the most expensive house sale of the year, and all without an official real estate listing.

To what extent would you attribute the rise of house prices in Auckland over the past 10 years to the greed of vendors and real estate salespeople?

Receivers have taken charge of a $2 million Mairangi Bay house allegedly bought with stolen funds and will rent out the property.

Police are examining the involvement of a businessman who is under investigation for alleged money laundering in a $50 million Albany housing project

Finance Minister Bill English the longer the Auckland housing market continues to rise the more of a risk it becomes to NZ's economy.