New Zealand's most expensive new residential project is nearly finished so billionaire Russian steel magnate Alexander Abramov can holiday there soon.

The world's second-richest royal might soon sell his empty Auckland office block - and the building could become apartments.

This $40m hideaway has been designed and built for Alexander Abramov to complement the coastal environment and is completely carbon neutral.

Housing affordability has improved slightly across New Zealand, with Auckland remaining the least affordable region and Southland the most affordable.

Editorial: The Government firmly believes the solution to rising prices lies in increasing the supply of houses, not dampening the demand for them by restricting loans or taxing investments.

An Auckland family have been awarded $147,000 after buying a leaky home in Te Atatu in 2009.

The first batch of 6000 new homes for fast-track residential development in Auckland has got a lukewarm response from property experts.

Sites of the Takapuna houses from last year's The Block renovation show are earmarked for buildings of at least four-storeys in the proposed Unitary Plan.

Eight homeowners have abandoned exclusive Auckland leasehold properties to the Cornwall Park Trust Board.

A hard-nosed attitude by the Cornwall Park Trust Board is destroying property values, says one lessee.

More and more homeowners are paying thousands of dollars to have their houses dressed before putting them on the market.

A clifftop bach voted the most eco-friendly in New Zealand is no place to take your hairdrier or straightening iron - it may just blow up the power system.

A chip off The Block will be up for grabs after the TV3 show's four renovated homes have been sold.

A former Housing New Zealand tenant who claimed to have raised $1 million to buy her home has been ordered to pay back $39,000.

A controversial Northland luxury housing development on a pristine eastern coastline goes before independent hearing commissioners appointed by Auckland Council on Monday.

There is, of course, already a healthy degree of consensus between central and local government in the form of National's Housing Accord with Auckland Council..

Homeowners who pay to get their house valued on top of insurance bills will be left out of pocket if the estimation is too low - but won't get extra if their premium was based on an overvaluation.

Real estate companies are at odds over whether the introduction of lending restrictions has affected the property market.

The 16ha Doubtless Bay property is advertised as a four-hour drive or 45-minute helicopter ride from Auckland.

Editorial: The policy provided palpable evidence of the extent to which the Government sees itself on the back foot over the issue of housing affordability.

First-home buyers have been thrown a lifeline in the form of a subsidised, vacant state house, but it comes with a catch - they'll have to move to the regions.

Property asking prices around the country have reached a record high, with a shortage of houses on the market helping to fuel demand.

John Key has hit back at Labour over new Reserve Bank mortgage lending limits, saying home buyers are better off under National due to lower interest rates.

Prime Minister John Key says he is confident the property market will settle down, despite the Reserve Bank's new mortgage lending restrictions.

Housing Minister Nick Smith and Auckland mayor Len Brown were in their own homes before they left university. We asked them how they did it.