Two leading real estate firms have gone head to head over whether auctions are a good way to sell houses.

Australians are muscling in on attempts to save the Remuera home Sir Ed Hillary built and lived in until his death.

Treasury Secretary John Whitehead says the rental property tax scheme creates the wrong incentives.

Sellers appear to be in denial over asking prices with a glut of new homes on the property market strong favouring buyers, says realestate.co.nz.

Building consents issued in February jumped 10 per cent, after rising one per cent the month before.

Some extra weakness is showing up in the residential real estate and investment market, the latest BNZ confidence survey has found.

Rotting buildings are NZ's worst catastrophe, but the Govt is cashing in, says a study commissioned by the North Shore City Council.

Owners in two townhouse complexes have been backed in drawn-out leaky-building repair battles with their council, which lawyers say may affect rates.

A real estate agent sent cold-calling condolences to a grieving widow - then offered to sell her house.

Luxury houses at the top end of the property market are selling fast, with renewed interest in multi-million-dollar homes.

The average Kiwi has to work nearly three times harder to pay off the average house than they did 50 years ago.

New Zealand is awash with unsold houses which could take nearly a year to clear.

House prices were stable in February, says the Real Estate Institute, while the number of properties sold recovered from a poor January.

Property investors have warned that rents could go up by $34 a week if the Govt scraps landlords' depreciation claims on housing, but the Government says they are wrong.

The hardest part of the process of selling your home is letting go.