Labour's leadership contest has turned into a showdown on the party's capital gains tax policy, with Andrew Little and David Parker at loggerheads over its future.

The public will get the chance to look into how the other half - or maybe the other 1 per cent - lives, with a tour through the homes of Auckland's elite in some of the city's swankiest suburbs on November 22.

House values throughout New Zealand rose 1.1pc in the past three months, the slowest rise in two years, according to QV data out.

Auckland land prices have surged, spurring owners to almost double the size of their houses in the past four decades.

New Zealand property prices have reached a new record high according to Trade Me Property.

New Zealand's roaring property market is a tale of two cities - Auckland and Christchurch - while the rest of the country mostly lags well behind.

Eighty Special Housing Areas, due to contain about 40,000 sites or residences, have been approved throughout the Auckland region.

Young aspiring Auckland house-buyers are not spendthrifts frittering their money on weekend entertainment but victims of an over-priced real estate sector, says an economist.

Twenty-three buildings taller than 200 metres are currently being planned or built in Melbourne, many by Asian developers.

Getting a mortgage is much harder than it was before the global financial crisis. No longer will banks lend willy-nilly.

A bylaw banning open fires and old woodburners in Auckland has been kicked for touch by Auckland council.

Council figures show 116,000 Auckland households are now expected to face a rates increase of more than 10 per cent, under a policy released today.

Young, aspiring Auckland first-home buyers are not saving enough, says a real estate agency boss, encouraging them to lower their expectations and spend less.

'Horrific" rates of nearly $50k a year on land still being grazed by livestock prompted the $37.9m sale of one of Auckland's largest land lots.

I didn't. I wanted to be a pilot from the age of 4. I used to run out and watch planes from our backyard but at the age of 12 my mum took me to the air force thinking she was doing the right thing.

Andrew Dickens writes: Much of Auckland was unaware of New Windsor until last week when it was revealed that property prices have shot up 58 per cent in the past three years.

Auckland has the nation's highest rate of homeowners still paying off their mortgages and the lowest proportion who own their home mortgage-free.

Million-dollar views on a slim budget have sparked a flood of interest in a luxury apartment on Auckland's waterfront.

In the three years I've lived in New York, I've never owned a lawnmower. Of course I haven't.

The Block NZ favourites Alex and Corban Walls have a secret beachfront holiday home at a Northland paradise and rent it out for up to $1000 a night.

A coastal Northland property purchased for just $9000 in 1974 is commanding a price tag around $1.6 million.

Welcome to Newell St - an otherwise sleepy dead-end road in one of Auckland's hottest city fringe suburbs - median sales price last month: $1.134 million.

The Kiwi dream dies reluctantly. The Prime Minister is no doubt right when he suggests that young people dismayed by the latest rise in house values should look at an apartment for their first step on the ladder.

Single-level Auckland brick-and-tile units are fetching record sums, often double the capital values assessed three years ago.

Rate rises will hit double digits in Auckland's hottest suburbs unless the council takes action on other fronts, says the council's finance boss.

The average valuation increase for all Auckland properties is 29 per cent, but the new values won’t be used to help set rates until July next year.

Homes featured on The Block are being marketed online - and fans wanting a sneak peek at yet-to-be unveiled rooms only have to wait two more days.

Domestic chimneys will have to be cemented up or blocked in other ways before a house with an open fireplace can be sold under the Auckland Council's planned air-quality bylaw.