North Shore residents worried that three- and four-storey apartments could rise on vacant waterfront land.

The building industry has stepped up pressure on the Reserve Bank over its loan to value ratio (LVR) loan restrictions.

A successful building plan will result in a 10,000-home oversupply in Auckland, says NZIER.

Making houses more affordable in Auckland will require far more land to be freed up .

A captain of a fishing vessel in Nelson was making more than $100,000 a year and living in a state house, Housing Minister Nick Smith said last night.

A four-bedroom Meadowbank home bought for $973,000 in May was sold for $162,000 more three months later despite no renovations.

A Victorian homestead in Pt Chevalier is being temporarily removed from its site while its church owner seeks a resource consent to permanently remove it and construct a replica building.

Four years since work started at northwest Auckland's 3,000-residence Hobsonville Pt housing estate, the 150th house is about to be finished.

People wanting to pay less interest and shave years off their mortgages are being advised to buy homes in "hidden-gem" suburbs.

The Reserve Bank doubts its curbs on mortgage lending at high loan-to-value ratios will have a material counter-productive effect on house building.

The Labour Party owns nearly $5 million worth of property - and taxpayers are footing the bill for five offices rented back to MPs.

First-home buyers are panic buying to get on the property ladder since the mortgage lending restrictions came in, property experts say.

NZ's median house price rose 1.9 per cent to a record in October, although sale volumes were dented as Reserve Bank lending restrictions began to bite.

There are early signs the Reserve Bank's lending restrictions are cooling the home loan market but it may be months before the full impact is known, says an analyst.

An enterprising landlord has been swamped with inquiries about his modest rental property after offering a free holiday as a sweetener to prospective tenants.

It will be like the United Nations on The Block come Christmas time when the new owners of the houses made famous on the TV3 renovation series move in.

John Key has admitted he had to be persuaded to back off his bid to press the Reserve Bank into exempting first-home buyers from the banks' new loan rules.

Real estate agents do not foresee a big drop in Auckland house prices as a result of new Reserve Bank lending curbs.

New Zealanders spend more of their income on housing than any other developed country in the OECD apart from heavily indebted Greece, a report reveals.

Future stages of Auckland's biggest new housing estate could be delayed because of a planning regulation clash.

The winners of The Block say they think the other homes on the TV3 series were "an absolute steal'' at last night's auction.

Graeme Wheeler has signalled he may delay the start of rises in the official cash rate if the Kiwi dollar stays high.