Landmark decisions on the development of two major Taranaki offshore gas fields were announced yesterday – kick-starting what promises to be a $1.5 billion boom for the region.

In recent years 'alternative investments' have seen increasing interest from investors. Broadly, it refers to investments in assets other than traditional ones like shares and bonds. The questions to ask yourself are, do you need to invest in them and if so how much?

Dr John McDermott, chief economist at National Bank, has predicted interest rates will rise this year and fall back next.

The potboiler residential building sector is slowing but is a long way off reaching a simmer.

Urbus Management Limited has announced the conditional sale of its management rights for Urbus Properties Limited to ING (NZ) Limited.

Ratepayers will benefit from a number of changes to the Auckland Regional Council’s rating policy this year.

A slowdown in house building is setting in, but the fall off is not big enough to stop the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lifting its benchmark interest rate next month, economists say.

Fears of a $2 million legal bill have forced plaintiffs in one of New Zealand's largest leaky buildings cases to settle on the eve of their court fixture.

Although housing consents are still at historically high levels, housing construction activity has declined for the fourth month in a row.

While the level of housing activity remains high, the housing market is easing "at a fairly hasty clip," Bank of New Zealand chief economist Tony Alexander says.

The number of new dwelling consents authorised fell 0.5 per cent in May following falls of 4.2 per cent and 7.1 per cent in the previous two months, Statistics New Zealand said today.

A boomer $656 million trade surplus in May has capped a hat-trick of good news for the economy in just a few days, reinforcing expectations that both interest rates and the Kiwi dollar will rise.

The economy began the year at a scorching pace but the momentum is expected to flag from here.

A generation of Australians face the prospect of never owning a home, while being burdened with rising rents, a housing conference has been told.

Q. In recent weeks there has been much said about excessive charges by real estate agents. I would encourage your readers to take a look at the internet.

Much of the "dotcom" hysteria a few years ago was triggered by the potential for eliminating the middleman and allowing the vendors and buyers to transact directly.

As we know, this didn't materialise to the exten

A few weeks ago, two Brisbane men headed to New Zealand's southernmost city of Invercargill with real estate on their minds.