We now have a tax system that favours the investor over any family wanting to own a home of their own - regardless of price, writes Alan Dudson.

Editorial: A contributor to our website today suggests an interesting way to make houses more affordable for young people seeking their first homes.

"Is National planning to confiscate private property to get houses built on it?" asks Tim Hazledine. "Labour has come out with a promise to build 100,000 new houses, which turns out to be half-baked in its lack of detail."

Kiwibank has today launched a six-month fixed home loan rate of 4.79 per cent, the bank's lowest rate in its 11-year history.

Join us at noon today for a live chat with Geoff Cooper, economist for Auckland City.

Auckland's critical housing shortage worsened again last year - but the gap between population growth and house-building may be closing at last.

Residents of Takapuna high-rise apartment block The Sentinel plan to spend $470,000 on a big outdoor podium upgrade of their tower in a project due to start on Monday.

Housing affordability and the difficulty of buying a new first home have led to a review of the way councils charge property developers.

My adult daughter - my only child - has been living with her partner for nearly four years in a relationship that may or may not last - it seems to be up and down.

New Zealand's commercial construction sector has been nailed into the ground by the recession, industry chiefs say, and Mainzeal Property and Construction's receivership came after a string of others.

Auckland's property market had a booming January, with one real estate company selling 78pc more homes worth more than $1 million than the same month last year.

It's time for a dose of fatalism and some common sense when it comes to dealing with earthquake-prone buildings across New Zealand in the wake of the Christchurch quakes.

Max Byrnes, a Manukau Golf Club neighbour, fears for the Conifer Grove area when Fletcher Building puts up hundreds of houses.

A real estate agent who gave a first-home buyer incorrect information has been found guilty of "sloppy and unprofessional" conduct.

What a lost opportunity at a time when the council is on a crusade to convert Aucklanders to the joys of intensive housing, writes Brian Rudman.

So coos the sugar-encrusted, but hollow-sounding real estate-speak intent on seducing would-be home buyers and hard-headed investors into succumbing to the charms of life at Hobsonville Pt.

A slight rebound in the number of new home listings last month did little to alleviate pressure in the property market.

The political year has begun and if there's one thing all parties can agree on, it's that we have a "housing crisis" on our hands, writes Dita De Boni.

Kiwi actor Karl Urban has upgraded his family to a $5.25 million home in Herne Bay, Auckland.

Consents for 127 retirement village units is one feature of strong building consents data for December.

More prisons will be turned into working prisons where all prisoners will be placed in a 40-hour week programme of work and rehabilitation, says John Key.

The return of students to Auckland has some in the property sector picking a rise in demand and prices for rental properties.

Deborah Hill Cone is fed up with New Zealand's oppressive attitude to home ownership.

Auckland homeowners are being encouraged to sell their houses to wealthy Chinese investors in a television marketing push.