Finance Minister Bill English has responded to a warning about a “sharp correction” in the housing market, saying that skyrocketing house prices “cannot go on forever”.

House-hunters have lost thousands of dollars after paying deposits for Auckland rental properties advertised by overseas scammers.

Twelve more areas in Auckland, Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty have been designated Special Housing Areas, bringing the total to 100, says Housing Minister Nick Smith.

New Zealand's first factory turning out finished houses has opened in Wellington, aiming to produce up to 500 places annually.

Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler has hosed down speculation he is minded to cut the official cash rate any time soon, say economists.

Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler today raised the risk of a "sharp correction" in the Auckland housing market.

Auckland homeowners are finding themselves unable to sell, because they can't find another place to buy due to a listings drought.

New listing activity has started to pick up but unless there are far more than we saw last year then supply is likely to remain less than demand.

House-building approval numbers jumped 16 per cent last year when consents were granted for 24,680 new dwellings.

Auckland: "There are few places on earth one might change so radically and so fast" - Nat Cheshire, architect.

In part four of the Herald series on how to make Auckland better, we look at the pros and cons of health-care in New Zealand's biggest city.

In the third of our five-part Future Auckland series, we aim to stimulate debate.

Prime Minister John Key has said apartments are an option for first-home buyers. Property editor Anne Gibson explores the pros and cons.

Parents could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by skipping houses in elite school zones and paying to privately educate their kids elsewhere instead.

People who live beside Auckland's Southern Motorway are subjected to air pollution at nearly double the level of those 130m further away, research shows.

Study warns that home ownership rates could drop below half in some parts of New Zealand within 20 years.

Precisely the same factors that plunged Ireland into its housing crisis last decade are now in play in NZ and could spark a big correction, says a leading Auckland fund manager.

Renters can strike a bargain when moving into a vacant property but they won't avoid rental price increases, a property expert says.

Renters can strike a bargain when moving into a vacant property but they won't avoid rental price increases, a property expert says.

Renters have been sheltered from the otherwise volatile housing market with rental prices remaining steady over the past months.

Got a problem? Then blame it on the Resource Management Act, writes John Armstrong. "Nick Smith is using the RMA as a smokescreen. The Auckland housing crisis is really a crisis of insatiable demand."

The Government has spelled out its masterplan for reversing skyrocketing house prices across the country - but will the 10-point plan work?

Property developers say the failure to quickly resolve Auckland's housing crisis is not their fault - lack of infrastructure is one of the biggest impediments to more building.

Residents will next month begin moving in to the new $250 million high-rise SugarTree apartment development between Nelson St and Union St.

Perched on the edge of the Waitemata Harbour, this three-storey masterpiece in one of Auckland's finest suburbs is up for grabs.

Banks have started cutting interest rates as the busy house-hunting season heats up. So how will it affect would-be home-buyers?