A 9.9 per cent average rates rise for Auckland households from July is going down badly with residents and ratepayer groups.

A dilapidated villa that sold for more than $1m despite being 'unlivable' is to be transformed into a sprawling four-bedroom home.

The Auckland residential property boom has developed some of the characteristics of the Dublin bubble a decade ago, writes Brian Gaynor.

Job listings in the design and architecture industry have surged 49 per cent in the past year.

Two-bedroom flat in Auckland sells for nearly $800K as real estate chief urges radical shake-up of deposit rules to take heat out of city's housing market.

Head of Auckland's biggest real estate company wants urges $500k deposit for homes worth over $1.5 million and ditching LVR for homes under $500k.

The Government's inaction has been given the blessing of the financially blessed, writes Dita De Boni.

The Reserve Bank has abandoned its one-size-fits-all approach to loan-to-value ratio curbs recognising house price inflation is an Auckland problem.

Dampening highly geared speculators' appetite for the Auckland cash-box housing market got the thumbs up from many quarters yesterday.

Investor association slams Reserve Bank’s bid to rein in Auckland house prices, saying it will push up rents and ruin first home buyers' chances.

New lending rules targeting Auckland residential property investors will cool the market - but the city's "gravitational pull" will counter any impact, John Key says.

Economics editor Brian Fallow says today's Reserve Bank move is crude, ad hoc and temporary - but it buys some time.

The Reserve Bank's new lending restrictions will make banks' books safer but may fail to cool the Auckland's housing market.

Reserve Bank targets Auckland property investors with new lending restrictions as it looks to take the heat out of the market.

The Reserve Bank will introduce new limits on lending to property investors in the Auckland Council area that would require those borrowers to have at least a 30 per cent deposit. What effect will this have?

Landlords says tenants will suffer from the Reserve Bank's 30 per cent rental property LVRs and rentals will become scarce.

He was known as the Mayor of Paice Ave, but now Dudley Watson's deceased estate in Mt Eden is on the market for the first time in nearly three-quarters of a century.

New, Auckland-only rules for property lending may be unveiled as early as tomorrow morning.

A second banking chief has denied Auckland has a housing bubble, saying many factors were combining to drive prices up including the city's sheer desirability.

A newly licensed online lending service is targeting prospective homeowners who have been shut out of the mainstream mortgage market by low-equity loan restrictions.

Auckland Council's first big forced-sale property case sparked by unpaid rates did not go ahead as planned when the money was suddenly paid.

A reader writes: Is there a minimum contribution my partner needs to have been making in order to be eligible for the KiwiSaver HomeStart?

It seems to be the big question of the moment, writes Liam Dann. There's no doubt the property market is hot. Too hot for those struggling to buy their first home.

Desperate home-buyers have resorted to sleeping in cars overnight in the hope of securing one of 12 sections when they go up for sale this morning.

Adopting tougher restrictions on the foreign ownership of residential property may not have the desired effect, writes James Dunne. The Australian experience suggests that it will generate a great deal of additional work for the Government.

BNZ boss Anthony Healy says he doesn't believe the Auckland property market is entering bubble territory.

People in many of Auckland's poorest suburbs will pay dearly for a transport and general rates package costed at $214 for the average household.

Andrew King of the NZ Property Investors Federation outlines the main concerns around housing in Auckland - and clears up some of the facts.

Auckland households are facing a steep rates rise of about 9.5 per cent to pay for Mayor Len Brown's latest budget plan.