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5 April 2011 Home affordability improves New Zealand homes reportedly became more affordable in the three months to February 28 as house prices and mortgage rates fell. Read More »
13 January 2011 Clearer rules for landlords and tenants The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 has cleared up a grey area in rental housing legislation, meaning that tenants can no longer be kicked out or leave with no notice if their fixed-term tenancy is over. Read More »
12 November 2010 Monthly property sales dip below 4000 Residential sales fell below 4,000 to 3,903 for the first October since the data was first compiled 18 years ago. Read More »
13 October 2010 Government launches new scheme for first time home owners The Government has announced a new scheme for low income earners or first timers buying or building their own homes, which will allow them to defer paying for the land. Read More »
13 October 2010 Property investing and tax changes IRD launches new tools and advice about property investing and tax changes Read More »
15 April 2010 New Real Estate Agents' Authority overwhelmed by complaints The newly formed Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA) has received more than 320 formal complaints in its first five months of operation and fielded over 17,000 phone and email inquiries, reports new website www.3news.co.nz Read More »
7 April 2010 Auctions an ineffective sale method for residential housing A monthly real estate market survey by First National New Zealand has found that auctions were the least effective tool for residential housing sales in March, but do appear to be currently effective in mortgagee sales. Read More »
15 March 2010 Residential sales recover but prices plateau The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has released figures showing that the total volume of residential dwelling sales recovered last month from their lowest level in nearly two decades, but the national median price has remained steady at $350,000.00. Read More »
11 March 2010 Real estate agent did not mislead home buyers News website stuff.co.nz reports that Welllington real estate agent Tim Whitehead has won a "discharge without conviction" by appealing to the High Court over his landmark convictions for misleading home buyers. Read More »
16 February 2010 January 2010 house sales at their lowest since 1992 Total residential dwelling sales plummeted last month to their lowest level in nearly two decades, as seen in figures released on Friday by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. Read More »
11 December 2009 Labour accuses Housing NZ of blocking access to State Houses A Housing New Zealand (HNZ) trial "options and advice" service has allegedly been turning people away after the options and advice service discussion, without giving them an opportunity to be assessed to see if they would qualify for a state house. HNZ said the discussion was meant to assist everyone that comes through its doors with advice about all the available housing options including state housing, homes available in the private sector, the government services available to help with accommodation costs, and home ownership. Read More »
16 November 2009 New Real Estate Agents Act could change home buying process Auckland District Law Society Inc reports the view of David Bigio, a lawyer who has presented seminars about the new Real Estate Agents Act 2008, that the new Act will result in changes in agency relationships between consumers and real estate agents. The most notable outcome perhaps being that lawyers, who in the past have been used to getting contracts after they had been signed, will find that they were being asked for advice at an earlier stage. Read More »
13 November 2009 Real Estate Agents' fees set The Real Estate Agents Authority (Fees and Levies) Notice 2009, which will come into force next week, sets the fees and levies real estate agents will have to pay to the Real Estate Agents Authority from 17 November 2009. Read More »
12 November 2009 Mayors say Government should pay more for leaky homes TVNZ reports that the mayors of the six councils most affected by the leaky homes sage have told the government that it needs to 'up the ante' over its plans to deal with leaky homes, and are hoping to meet with government officials by the end of the month to discuss options. Read More »
9 November 2009 Year on year residential property values up Property values are now above the same time last year according to the QV residential property indices for October. Nationally, values are 0.2 percent above the same time last year, up from the -1.1 percent reported last month. Read More »
27 October 2009 Mortgagee sales drop The number of mortgagee sales fell for the first time since February 2009, reports Emma Page in the Sunday Star Times - though experts warn it's too soon to celebrate. Read More »
19 October 2009 Foreshore and seabed legislation likely to be overturned The Maori Party - formed on a platform of repealing the foreshore and seabed legislation - said yesterday through party president Whatarangi Winiata that the government had agreed to its repeal, with Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia saying a decision on the legislation will be revealed in the next two weeks. Read More »
16 October 2009 New Real Estate Agents Rules released The Real Estate Agents Act (Professional Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2009 are due to come into force on 17 November 2009. Read More »
15 October 2009 More positive housing news Figures released yesterday by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) reveal further positive trends in terms of residential real estate turnover, median sale prices, and time to sell. Read More »
12 October 2009 Property values continue to recover In a statement released today, QV report that property values have continued to increase according to the QV residential property indices for September. Nationally, values are now only 1.1 percent below the same time last year, up further from the -2.8 percent reported last month. Read More »
24 September 2009 Work limit put on insulation firms The Government is moving to cap the number of houses that businesses can fit out under the new state-funded home heating and insulation scheme, reports Anne Gibson of the New Zealand Herald. Read More »
23 September 2009 Real Estate Agents go to Court to get Commission Real estate agents Barfoot & Thompson have taken court action to get their commission on the sale of a house in the upmarket Auckland suburb of Remuera, news website www.voxy.co.nz reports Read More »
16 September 2009 Farm prices down 43 percent The latest Real Estate Institute figures have revealed that farm prices were down 43 per cent to a median of $1 million in the three months to August, compared with the same period last year. Read More »
15 September 2009 State houses available to buy Housing Minister Phil Heatley today announced that state house tenants in a position to buy the house they live in will now be able do so. Read More »
3 September 2009 Debate continues to rage over new REINZ Agreements Thomson Reuters today published two news items reflecting the opposing sides of the current debate over the recently released REINZ forms of agreement for sale and purchase. Read More »
26 August 2009 Companies fined thousands for rent-to-buy scheme The Southland Times reports that two southern companies have been fined thousands of dollars after admitting "selling" homes as rent-to-buy without transferring the ownership to the buyer. Read More »
24 August 2009 Land tax being considered A committee set up to look at ways to revamp New Zealand's tax system is exploring a land tax which could cost the average home owner $214 a year, reports TVNZ website www.tvnz.co.nz. Read More »
17 August 2009 House prices up 1 percent in July The NZ Herald reports that the real estate market held firm in July, with prices and turnover tracking June figures almost exactly, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ). Read More »
10 August 2009 REINZ adopts new measure for house prices Scoop Business reporter Paul McBeth reports that the Real Estate Institute’s monthly housing price index is in for an overhaul after the Reserve Bank found that the series had flaws that made it difficult to identify trends in property prices. Read More »
28 July 2009 More homeowners sell privately Anna Rushworth from the New Zealand Herald reports that more homeowners are opting to sell their properties privately to avoid paying out commission to real estate agents, with inquiries to private property sale company HomeSell up 65 percent on July last year. Read More »
29 June 2009 Siblings argue over whether family home should be sold A recent decision of the High Court has ordered the removal of a caveat lodged by a deceased woman's children over the family home after the executors of the Will (also children of the deceased) decided to sell the house outside the family. Read More »
19 June 2009 Banks waive fees for home insulation scheme Prime Minister John Key has announced that all the main trading banks have agreed to join the government's insulation and heating scheme, and all have agreed to waive their fees for top-up loans homeowners get as part of insulation retrofits. Read More »
4 June 2009 Capital gains tax on property? Treasury Secretary John Whitehead yesterday suggested that New Zealand address the long standing issue of taxing capital gains from property investment, reports news website stuff.co.nz Read More »
27 May 2009 House buying confidence improves The economic stars are aligning for the housing market, so now is the time to be bold and buy, suggests Adrian Chang in the Sunday Star Times. Read More »
26 May 2009 Drop in bank deposit rates leads to increase in syndicated property deals Alex Tarrant of the New Zealand Herald reports that savers frustrated with record low returns from bank deposits are diving into lightly-regulated commercial property deals that forecast nearly 10 per cent cash returns, but can carry significant risks. Read More »
22 May 2009 Housing market may have turned the corner Recent statistics suggest that the housing market may have turned the corner, says news website stuff.co.nz. Read More »
18 May 2009 Tenancy laws to be updated Building and Construction Minister Shane Jones will this week introduce the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill to Parliament, which proposes sweeping changes to tenancy laws, including making it a civil offence to be a bad neighbour. Read More »
20 April 2009 Interest-free loans for first-home buyers The Dominion Post reports that interest-free loans for first-home buyers are among a second wave of job-creation measures being worked on by the Government as its job summit gets mixed reviews nearly two months on. Read More »
18 April 2009 Key rejects recommendation limiting length of state house tenancies According to news website www.guide2.co.nz, Prime Minister John Key has rejected a Treasury recommendation to limit how long tenants could live in a state house. Read More »
18 March 2009 Overseas investment rules to be reviewed Finance Minister Bill English has announced that a review of the overseas investment regime is intended to make the process quicker and less complex, according to news website www.stuff.co.nz. Read More »
16 March 2009 Leaky homes causing intense stress A Christchurch couple were put on suicide watch after going through six years of litigation to fix their leaky home, according to John Hartevelt of The Press. Read More »
13 March 2009 Rural property market continues slide Adrian Chang from BusinessDay reports the rural property market continued to dive in February, with the total number of sales dropping to 274 compared with 305 in January, and the median sale value dropping from $1,525,000 to $1,262,500. Read More »
12 March 2009 More houses sell - but take longer to do so Radio New Zealand reports that more houses sold in February - but the number of days they are on the market is lengthening. Read More »
18 February 2009 Mortgagee sales still on the rise The NZ Herald reports that the squeeze is still on many homeowners who are overburdened with debt and cannot meet their commitments. Read More »
16 February 2009 House sales at lowest since 1992 The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand ("REINZ") reports that the number of residential property sales in January reached their lowest monthly level since 1992, suggesting that the housing slump continues to deepen. Read More »
16 February 2009 Online mortgagee property listings rise According to the NZ Herlad, the number of people searching for mortgagee sales on local real estate search website www.realestate.co.nz is growing, as the financial crisis puts more lenders under pressure. Read More »
2 February 2009 No shortage of council land for new housing Jamie Morton from the Wairarapa Times-Age reports that the three Wairarapa councils have plenty of land that can be allocated for new developments, immunising the region from potential issues arising from Housing Minister Phil Heatley's call for councils to plan ahead to ensure land is available to meet the country's growing housing needs, particularly "affordable homes". Read More »
28 January 2009 Government says tax no solution to expensive property According to Radio New Zealand News, the Government has rejected a renewed call for a capital gains tax in the wake of new data showing that buying a home in New Zealand is less affordable than in most countries. Read More »
28 January 2009 Apartment owners hit by $12,000 ground rent In an example of some an issues that can arise with unit titles of leasehold land, Anna Gibson reports in the New Zealand Herald that ground rent at one of the country's largest high-density housing estates is rising 244 per cent from $900,000 to $3.1 million annually. Read More »
27 January 2009 New Zealand homes "severely unaffordable" New Zealand ranks just behind Australia as having the least affordable homes of six countries, including the United States and Britain, according to the National Business Review. Read More »

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