New Zealand’s human rights watchdog has added its voice to those calling for drastic action to tackle New Zealand’s housing problems.

A lick of paint, some new carpet and Auckland's fizzing property market have increased an apartment's value by $55K in just two weeks.

Regulatory moves to curb bank lending to residential property investors are a live possibility, says Reserve Bank deputy governor Grant Spencer.

Andrew Little says a speech from the Reserve Bank deputy governor was effectively saying there was a housing crisis – something John Key had refused to accept.

For the first time in a single month, 10 per cent of all properties sold around the country went for more than $1 million.

A fight has erupted over one of New Zealand's biggest leaky building payouts, as 253 owners of a North Shore apartment/hotel tower battle one another.

Prefabricated homes offering up to 15 per cent reductions in building costs are gaining a powerful boost from a green think-tank seeking sustainable ways of tackling the housing crisis.

Repairs have begun to one of Auckland's largest leaky apartment complexes.

The rural property market has remained remarkably resilient in the face of lower farm-gate prices and dry summer conditions, with prices - by some measures - returning to pre-global financial crisis....

Auckland house prices surged 13 per cent in the last month alone and are up $83,000 annually, according to REINZ's latest figures.

As Auckland City corporates move on up to flash new high-rise towers nearer the waterfront, their dated, cast-off offices are being snapped up.

A beachfront holiday home has set a new record, as coastal property prices continue to soar.

Buying a house on the city's outskirts can save Aucklanders up to $50,000 each year in mortgage repayments, despite the added commuting costs.

A big state-owned site in Auckland once earmarked for social and affordable housing is being carved up for sale.

Auckland's housing market is a giant Ponzi scheme, one economist says, as residents pay each other to get in, driving prices up.

Unsurprisingly, the Government's state housing sale to the Salvation Army fell over. And so it should as it was a bad idea, writes Bob Jones.

"March is always the most active month for property sales, but there has never been a month's trading to compare with the past month," Barfoot and Thompson said.

Spending massive amounts on overpriced objects feels wrong. It's a harbinger of the apocalypse, writes Matt Heath. Anyway, the other day I bought a house in central Auckland.

A $21,404.80 unpaid rates bill is owed on an Arch Hill house but one of its owners is refusing to pay due to a property dispute.

Entry-level Auckland home buyers are opting for older houses on smaller sections in need of considerable DIY work.

Struggling to buy their first home in Auckland, with twins and another baby on the way, James and Barbara Ryan "did the only thing that made sense", and left.

Nearly one in five Auckland first-home buyers now spends more than six years saving for a deposit, delaying the home ownership dream while prices rise.

Council valuations are out of date, with homes selling in Auckland's market on average for more than 15 per cent above their figure of six months ago.

In the first of a three-part series, Herald property reporter Lane Nichols looks at how the previous generation’s quarter-acre dream is fast becoming unattainable.

Catherine Smith was 25 when she bought her first home in 1982 - a three-bedroom bay-fronted Ponsonby villa for $55,000.