Lenders are offering home-owners the lowest short-term bank mortgage rates in New Zealand history as they compete to lure customers before an expected rise next year.

The Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said the central bank had intervened in the currency market to take on the high New Zealand dollar in recent months and was prepared to "scale up" its activities if necessary.

Auckland's first mass affordable housing project, with homes priced from $320,000, could rise soon on a plant nursery site between Mt Wellington and Otahuhu.

Seattle's an economic engine, a leader in sustainability and a hub for culture and creativity, writes Dr Ann Bartos and John Mauro. It could easily be Auckland.

Shandelle Battersby has just re-negotiated her mortgage.

Auckland's 'frothy' housing market poses the biggest risk to the economy's strengthening recovery, the Institute of Economic Research says.

Auckland's booming residential market has pushed 10 new suburbs into the $1 million-plus club - raising the number to 17.

A rural village in West Auckland is set for a boost of 330 new homes.

The greater issue is whether the workforce would be available given the mass exodus of skilled Kiwi workers to Australia and the demands of Christchurch, writes Ashley Church.

The Auckland Council hasn't done any work to compare urban and rural infrastructure costs as it asks Aucklanders to adapt to a new way of life.

Asian business migrants looking at moving to New Zealand are being urged to invest in real estate to secure their residency.

Up to seven annual Auckland incomes would now be needed to buy a property in the city for its median house price.

Whether it's walls of apartments on the ridges overlooking Browns Bay or 18-storey high rises in Newmarket, the council is facing a chorus of complaints.

Auckland's heritage character is under threat from apartments in half of residential Auckland, says the Character Coalition.

Intensification of housing needs to be matched by intensification of amenities, writes Dr Jamie Hosking. It must be sensitive to heritage and design values,

Each owner of leak-struck twin tower high-rise Hobson Gardens faces paying $50,000 to $75,000 to get their unit fixed after the collapse of Mainzeal Property & Construction.

Aucklanders are looking as far away as Hamilton to buy homes as more people find themselves squeezed out of their local real estate market.

Plans to intensify Auckland with terraced housing and apartment buildings are deja vu for one community, which met last night to discuss the potential changes.

The draft Auckland Unitary Plan proposes a fundamental change to the urban fabric of Auckland, writs Richard Burton. Multi-storey, high-density apartment buildings formerly reserved to the inner city and adjoining areas are now proposed.

Half of suburban Auckland built up with three-storey apartments? Under the rules of the draft Unitary Plan it's about as likely as the sun setting in the east.

The CV is misleading and potentially damaging to the process of real estate, writes Alistair Helm.

A public meeting of about 500 people has told the Auckland Council to rethink its intensification plans for the city, start listening to communities and stop spinning.

Against a backdrop of rising share prices and a booming Auckland housing market, investor confidence reached its highest level.

Standard & Poor's, the global credit rating agency, has put eight local banks on notice over the rising risk of a housing bubble bursting in New Zealand.

Residential rents could rise and historic buildings might be abandoned, say property chiefs who have mixed feelings about real estate changes in the Budget.

The Government says it will take control of housing planning and consent processes from councils if they do not act quickly enough to free up land for houses.