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.

Auckland residents may be at risk of a $20,000 fine if they flout the council's planned ban on indoor open fires.

Domestic open fires will be banned from 2016 and old wood burners from 2018 under a plan Auckland Council is drawing up.

Buying a small apartment can be a good first step on the Auckland house ownership ladder, real estate experts say.

A specialist building and construction lawyer has backed a Supreme Court decision on an apartment owner's access to his Auckland block.

A big court case over one of Auckland's most ill-fated apartment tower developments is set down to be heard early next year.

The NY real-estate industry is mobilising to kill a proposed levy on non-resident owners of luxury apartments.

First home buyers in Auckland might have to consider an apartment in order to get onto the property ladder, Prime Minister John Key says. His comments follow the release of new CVs for Auckland, which have soared since 2011, particularly in city-fringe suburbs. There are fears the mostly higher CVs could lead to rates increases well in excess of the 3.7 per cent planned for homeowners by Mayor Len Brown next year.

The latest Auckland property valuations have thrown the spotlight on a fixed charge that can ease the pain for homeowners of expensive properties, but hurt those in cheaper ones.

Coastal real estate continues to lag well behind soaring city prices with latest capital value ratings reflecting slow property market trends.

Figures from the council's 2014 CVs, released today, are a double-edged sword for the city's homeowners. Check out the average increase for every suburb.

Canadian migrant Genevieve Westcott remembers the 20.5 per cent mortgage rates of the 1980s.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has condemned the Government's decision to sell state houses just after the election as "an extraordinary exercise in duplicity".

Ex-Labour MP was infamous for his stays in hotels while a minister, but the frequent flying ambassador's crash pad these days is a South Auckland state house.

The Finance Minister says the proceeds from selling state houses are unlikely to be spent on new state houses and may go into the Consolidated Account.

A stunning home overlooking Tauranga Bay in Northland has been featured as the "house of the day" in the Wall Street Journal.

Tainui says it wants to spend "tens of millions of dollars" on buying up state houses as Bill English signals an open market for the country's 68,000 Housing NZ properties.

Auckland's next generation will be divided into those whose parents owned a house and offspring of renters doomed to rent themselves, an economist has predicted.

The housing market nationwide is delivering about the rate of capital gain an investor would need to justify buying an average house, says Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens.

Andrew King writes: A recent report showed that Generation Y - those under 28 - were increasingly becoming property orphans and spending their money on travel and shopping.

The pace of property price increases has eased nationwide, as higher interest rates and lending restrictions take effect. Everywhere, that is, except Auckland.

New Zealand's biggest residential repair job is nearly finished, with Fletcher Earthquake Recovery completing most of the Christchurch housing repair backlog.

Waterfront Auckland has defended its Wynyard Quarter leasehold deal where apartment owners can pre-pay ground rent for 125 years.

The general election failed to dent September house sale volumes which rose nearly 8 per cent last month.

Owners of the run-down Auckland villa that fetched a whopping $1million-plus price-tag spent the week avoiding the media.

An Auckland villa has increased in value by $1.1million in just two years - further evidence of a super-heated property market showing no signs of slowing.

An exclusive seaside mansion at the centre of a bitter family feud will be auctioned next month.

It's a four-bedroom, settler style house that could fetch well over $800k. Just one catch - the unhappy owner is refusing to be dragged out of it.

A Detroit man has offered to sell his house for an iPhone 6, in a swap that speaks volumes about the mixed fortunes of America.