Full confidence has been expressed in the approach Blue Chip liquidator Jeff Meltzer has taken in dealing with the mammoth task.

Harcourts' latest figures show that the overall volume of property sales has continued to slow and price rises have eased, says Harcourts chief executive Bryan Thomson.

Mortgage lenders have continued to raise home loan rates over the past week and there are suggestions from some commentators that they could go higher still.

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At a challenging time in the property market, a bigger adjustment in price than has been seen in the last two months is yet to come, according to Ray White Group chief executive Carey Smith.

Property investors who have not paid enough tax on their transactions need to beware. The Inland Revenue Department has been given $15 million to investigate all residential property sales since 2002.

People who sell packaged property investments, like Blue Chip, may come under a new set of rules in the future.

Real Estate Institute president Murray Cleland says it is not a good look for the government to be going into an election year with falling house prices and rising mortgage rates.

The Real Estate Institute sales figures for February are out now. To read what's happening in your region and around the country, use the links in this story.

The residential property market reached a 'tipping point' in February with the percentage annual growth rate on the verge of moving into negative figures, says the Real Estate Institute.

While some funds may be available to alleviate Blue Chip investors’ woes in six to eight weeks time, their immediate concern is how to meet loan repayments falling due in the meantime.

There were no surprises in the latest QV data this month, with the annual value growth rate and sales volumes both continuing their declining trajectory.

With the property market in slow-down mode, prices are dropping in all the main urban centres. Hamilton shows the greatest easing of values for February, with Tauranga showing the smallest drop.

The Auckland property market continued its slowing pace in February with just over 600 sales, according to the latest statistics from Barfoot & Thompson.

The extent to which the brakes have been applied to the housing market is evident in figures released by Veda Advantage, New Zealand’s largest credit reporting agency.

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said: “The outlook for economic activity has deteriorated somewhat since we reviewed the OCR in January.