Sea views, landscaped gardens and private jetties are usually prized real estate features.

Plans for a lavish clifftop mansion - the unrealised dream home of former bankrupted Sensation Yachts owner Ivan Erceg - can be revealed for the first time.

I find it remarkable that Labour's proposed capital gains tax has generated so little debate.

Rising interest rates have yet to dent people's expectations that house prices will continue to rise over the year ahead, especially in Auckland and Canterbury.

House sales fell 13 per cent in July as winter cooled the appetite of house hunters, but the national median price is still up $31,000 from a year earlier.

A rustic-style timber-clad high rise apartment block, has won a design competition to showcase more intensive Auckland building styles.

A subdivision for 60 houses at Helensville is being criticised by youth lobby group Generation Zero as a bad case of urban sprawl and costly for ratepayers.

Hate apartment blocks? Then take a closer look at these five, shortlisted in a competition to win over Aucklanders sceptical about their city's intensification.

Donghua Liu has pleaded guilty to charges laid by the Auckland Council over building works on two properties worth more than $6 million in plush suburbs.

Auckland's biggest real estate agency, Barfoot & Thompson, said their house sale volumes fell in July, blaming winter and the election.

Donghua Liu is in more legal trouble after the Auckland Council charged him over renovations on two properties worth more than $6 million in plush suburbs.

A shortage of winter house listings is putting more pressure on already rocketing prices.

Andrew Bruce says property investment is now at a tax disadvantage when compared to other investment classes such as companies.

Look south, get an apartment or buy near a supermarket, say property experts who insist there is still good buying in Auckland's overheated housing market.

In a video interview on nzherald.co.nz, Eaqub said capital gains tax on investment property was often discussed in New Zealand as if it didn't exist - but it already does.

Banks are handing out mortgages of as much as $10 million to the wealthy in record numbers while first-time homebuyers struggle to get loans.

Construction industry organisation Certified Builders has launched a new set of plans for houses, saying it could save people around $10,000.

Heritage building owners are struggling financially, unable to upgrade their places, breaching banking covenants and forced to sell properties cheaply, says a landlord.

A building crisis in Canterbury could be as widespread as the leaky home issue, lawyers say.

Banks are once again wooing first-home buyers to apply for a mortgage, even if they do not have a 20 per cent deposit.

A rich lister, a high profile QC, a prominent media couple and an arts doyen are locking horns over the future of Franklin Rd, which attracts hordes of visitors to its street display of Christmas lights.

Former television presenter and Labour hopeful Tamati Coffey has sold his plush Auckland pad for more than double its valuation price.

$400k may not buy you the biggest house in Auckland...but you'll be surprised at what is available further afield.

About 100 leaky building victims whose claims were rejected because they were beyond a 10-year threshold may now get help to fix their homes.

What's behind Auckland's rapidly rising house prices - and should the finger of blame be pointed at investors? Andrew Bruce says 'no'.